diff --git a/fs/xfs/scrub/common.h b/fs/xfs/scrub/common.h
index bdcd40f0ec74..19877d99f255 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/scrub/common.h
+++ b/fs/xfs/scrub/common.h
@@ -224,7 +224,6 @@ static inline bool xchk_skip_xref(struct xfs_scrub_metadata *sm)
 bool xchk_dir_looks_zapped(struct xfs_inode *dp);
 bool xchk_pptr_looks_zapped(struct xfs_inode *ip);
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_XFS_ONLINE_REPAIR
 /* Decide if a repair is required. */
 static inline bool xchk_needs_repair(const struct xfs_scrub_metadata *sm)
 {
@@ -244,10 +243,6 @@ static inline bool xchk_could_repair(const struct xfs_scrub *sc)
 	return (sc->sm->sm_flags & XFS_SCRUB_IFLAG_REPAIR) &&
 		!(sc->flags & XREP_ALREADY_FIXED);
 }
-#else
-# define xchk_needs_repair(sc)		(false)
-# define xchk_could_repair(sc)		(false)
-#endif /* CONFIG_XFS_ONLINE_REPAIR */
 
 int xchk_metadata_inode_forks(struct xfs_scrub *sc);
 
diff --git a/fs/xfs/scrub/repair.h b/fs/xfs/scrub/repair.h
index 823c00d1a502..af0a3a9e5ed9 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/scrub/repair.h
+++ b/fs/xfs/scrub/repair.h
@@ -191,7 +191,16 @@ int xrep_reset_metafile_resv(struct xfs_scrub *sc);
 #else
 
 #define xrep_ino_dqattach(sc)	(0)
-#define xrep_will_attempt(sc)	(false)
+
+/*
+ * When online repair is not built into the kernel, we still want to attempt
+ * the repair so that the stub xrep_attempt below will return EOPNOTSUPP.
+ */
+static inline bool xrep_will_attempt(const struct xfs_scrub *sc)
+{
+	return (sc->sm->sm_flags & XFS_SCRUB_IFLAG_FORCE_REBUILD) ||
+		xchk_needs_repair(sc->sm);
+}
 
 static inline int
 xrep_attempt(
diff --git a/fs/xfs/scrub/scrub.c b/fs/xfs/scrub/scrub.c
index 7567dd5cad14..6fa9e3e5bab7 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/scrub/scrub.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/scrub/scrub.c
@@ -149,6 +149,18 @@ xchk_probe(
 	if (xchk_should_terminate(sc, &error))
 		return error;
 
+	/*
+	 * If the caller is probing to see if repair works but repair isn't
+	 * built into the kernel, return EOPNOTSUPP because that's the signal
+	 * that userspace expects.  If online repair is built in, set the
+	 * CORRUPT flag (without any of the usual tracing/logging) to force us
+	 * into xrep_probe.
+	 */
+	if (xchk_could_repair(sc)) {
+		if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_XFS_ONLINE_REPAIR))
+			return -EOPNOTSUPP;
+		sc->sm->sm_flags |= XFS_SCRUB_OFLAG_CORRUPT;
+	}
 	return 0;
 }