diff --git a/kmod/src/forest.c b/kmod/src/forest.c
index 34297cbf..03d1c486 100644
--- a/kmod/src/forest.c
+++ b/kmod/src/forest.c
@@ -251,10 +251,8 @@ static int forest_read_items(struct super_block *sb, struct scoutfs_key *key,
  * that covers all the blocks.  Any keys outside of this range can't be
  * trusted because we didn't visit all the trees to check their items.
  *
- * If we hit stale blocks and retry we can call the callback for
- * duplicate items.  This is harmless because the items are stable while
- * the caller holds their cluster lock and the caller has to filter out
- * item seqs anyway.
+ * We return -ESTALE if we hit stale blocks to give the caller a chance
+ * to reset their state and retry with a newer version of the btrees.
  */
 int scoutfs_forest_read_items(struct super_block *sb,
 			      struct scoutfs_lock *lock,
@@ -263,7 +261,6 @@ int scoutfs_forest_read_items(struct super_block *sb,
 			      struct scoutfs_key *end,
 			      scoutfs_forest_item_cb cb, void *arg)
 {
-	DECLARE_STALE_TRACKING_SUPER_REFS(prev_refs, refs);
 	struct forest_read_items_data rid = {
 		.cb = cb,
 		.cb_arg = arg,
@@ -281,14 +278,11 @@ int scoutfs_forest_read_items(struct super_block *sb,
 	scoutfs_inc_counter(sb, forest_read_items);
 	calc_bloom_nrs(&bloom, &lock->start);
 
-retry:
 	ret = scoutfs_client_get_roots(sb, &roots);
 	if (ret)
 		goto out;
 
 	trace_scoutfs_forest_using_roots(sb, &roots.fs_root, &roots.logs_root);
-	refs.fs_ref = roots.fs_root.ref;
-	refs.logs_ref = roots.logs_root.ref;
 
 	*start = lock->start;
 	*end = lock->end;
@@ -352,13 +346,6 @@ retry:
 
 	ret = 0;
 out:
-	if (ret == -ESTALE) {
-		if (memcmp(&prev_refs, &refs, sizeof(refs)) == 0)
-			return -EIO;
-		prev_refs = refs;
-		goto retry;
-	}
-
 	return ret;
 }
 
diff --git a/kmod/src/item.c b/kmod/src/item.c
index 549bfcec..01c787cd 100644
--- a/kmod/src/item.c
+++ b/kmod/src/item.c
@@ -1445,6 +1445,11 @@ static int read_page_item(struct super_block *sb, struct scoutfs_key *key,
  * locks protect the stable items we read.  Invalidation is careful not
  * to drop pages that have items that we couldn't see because they were
  * dirty when we started reading.
+ *
+ * The forest item reader is reading stable trees that could be
+ * overwritten.  It can return -ESTALE which we return to the caller who
+ * will retry the operation and work with a new set of more recent
+ * btrees.
  */
 static int read_pages(struct super_block *sb, struct item_cache_info *cinf,
 		      struct scoutfs_key *key, struct scoutfs_lock *lock)
@@ -1615,7 +1620,7 @@ retry:
 					       &lock->end);
 		else
 			ret = read_pages(sb, cinf, key, lock);
-		if (ret < 0)
+		if (ret < 0 && ret != -ESTALE)
 			goto out;
 		goto retry;
 	}