diff --git a/crates/storage/db/src/mdbx.rs b/crates/storage/db/src/mdbx.rs
index bdb94c746ad..9a0f0f0c0f1 100644
--- a/crates/storage/db/src/mdbx.rs
+++ b/crates/storage/db/src/mdbx.rs
@@ -79,8 +79,6 @@ pub fn create_db<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P, args: DatabaseArguments) -> eyre::Resu
     use crate::version::{check_db_version_file, create_db_version_file, DatabaseVersionError};
 
     let rpath = path.as_ref();
-    warn_if_zfs(rpath);
-
     if is_database_empty(rpath) {
         reth_fs_util::create_dir_all(rpath)
             .wrap_err_with(|| format!("Could not create database directory {}", rpath.display()))?;
@@ -93,6 +91,8 @@ pub fn create_db<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P, args: DatabaseArguments) -> eyre::Resu
         }
     }
 
+    warn_if_zfs(rpath);
+
     Ok(DatabaseEnv::open(rpath, DatabaseEnvKind::RW, args)?)
 }