diff --git a/fs/btrfs/send.c b/fs/btrfs/send.c
index f8d77a33b9b7..6ab1ba66ff4b 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/send.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/send.c
@@ -850,6 +850,7 @@ struct btrfs_inode_info {
 	u64 gid;
 	u64 rdev;
 	u64 attr;
+	u64 nlink;
 };
 
 /*
@@ -888,6 +889,7 @@ static int get_inode_info(struct btrfs_root *root, u64 ino,
 	info->uid = btrfs_inode_uid(path->nodes[0], ii);
 	info->gid = btrfs_inode_gid(path->nodes[0], ii);
 	info->rdev = btrfs_inode_rdev(path->nodes[0], ii);
+	info->nlink = btrfs_inode_nlink(path->nodes[0], ii);
 	/*
 	 * Transfer the unchanged u64 value of btrfs_inode_item::flags, that's
 	 * otherwise logically split to 32/32 parts.
@@ -1652,19 +1654,22 @@ static int get_cur_inode_state(struct send_ctx *sctx, u64 ino, u64 gen)
 	int right_ret;
 	u64 left_gen;
 	u64 right_gen;
+	struct btrfs_inode_info info;
 
-	ret = get_inode_gen(sctx->send_root, ino, &left_gen);
+	ret = get_inode_info(sctx->send_root, ino, &info);
 	if (ret < 0 && ret != -ENOENT)
 		goto out;
-	left_ret = ret;
+	left_ret = (info.nlink == 0) ? -ENOENT : ret;
+	left_gen = info.gen;
 
 	if (!sctx->parent_root) {
 		right_ret = -ENOENT;
 	} else {
-		ret = get_inode_gen(sctx->parent_root, ino, &right_gen);
+		ret = get_inode_info(sctx->parent_root, ino, &info);
 		if (ret < 0 && ret != -ENOENT)
 			goto out;
-		right_ret = ret;
+		right_ret = (info.nlink == 0) ? -ENOENT : ret;
+		right_gen = info.gen;
 	}
 
 	if (!left_ret && !right_ret) {
@@ -6413,86 +6418,6 @@ static int finish_inode_if_needed(struct send_ctx *sctx, int at_end)
 	return ret;
 }
 
-struct parent_paths_ctx {
-	struct list_head *refs;
-	struct send_ctx *sctx;
-};
-
-static int record_parent_ref(int num, u64 dir, int index, struct fs_path *name,
-			     void *ctx)
-{
-	struct parent_paths_ctx *ppctx = ctx;
-
-	/*
-	 * Pass 0 as the generation for the directory, we don't care about it
-	 * here as we have no new references to add, we just want to delete all
-	 * references for an inode.
-	 */
-	return record_ref_in_tree(&ppctx->sctx->rbtree_deleted_refs, ppctx->refs,
-				  name, dir, 0, ppctx->sctx);
-}
-
-/*
- * Issue unlink operations for all paths of the current inode found in the
- * parent snapshot.
- */
-static int btrfs_unlink_all_paths(struct send_ctx *sctx)
-{
-	LIST_HEAD(deleted_refs);
-	struct btrfs_path *path;
-	struct btrfs_root *root = sctx->parent_root;
-	struct btrfs_key key;
-	struct btrfs_key found_key;
-	struct parent_paths_ctx ctx;
-	int iter_ret = 0;
-	int ret;
-
-	path = alloc_path_for_send();
-	if (!path)
-		return -ENOMEM;
-
-	key.objectid = sctx->cur_ino;
-	key.type = BTRFS_INODE_REF_KEY;
-	key.offset = 0;
-
-	ctx.refs = &deleted_refs;
-	ctx.sctx = sctx;
-
-	btrfs_for_each_slot(root, &key, &found_key, path, iter_ret) {
-		if (found_key.objectid != key.objectid)
-			break;
-		if (found_key.type != key.type &&
-		    found_key.type != BTRFS_INODE_EXTREF_KEY)
-			break;
-
-		ret = iterate_inode_ref(root, path, &found_key, 1,
-					record_parent_ref, &ctx);
-		if (ret < 0)
-			goto out;
-	}
-	/* Catch error found during iteration */
-	if (iter_ret < 0) {
-		ret = iter_ret;
-		goto out;
-	}
-
-	while (!list_empty(&deleted_refs)) {
-		struct recorded_ref *ref;
-
-		ref = list_first_entry(&deleted_refs, struct recorded_ref, list);
-		ret = send_unlink(sctx, ref->full_path);
-		if (ret < 0)
-			goto out;
-		recorded_ref_free(ref);
-	}
-	ret = 0;
-out:
-	btrfs_free_path(path);
-	if (ret)
-		__free_recorded_refs(&deleted_refs);
-	return ret;
-}
-
 static void close_current_inode(struct send_ctx *sctx)
 {
 	u64 i_size;
@@ -6583,25 +6508,37 @@ static int changed_inode(struct send_ctx *sctx,
 	 * file descriptor against it or turning a RO snapshot into RW mode,
 	 * keep an open file descriptor against a file, delete it and then
 	 * turn the snapshot back to RO mode before using it for a send
-	 * operation. So if we find such cases, ignore the inode and all its
-	 * items completely if it's a new inode, or if it's a changed inode
-	 * make sure all its previous paths (from the parent snapshot) are all
-	 * unlinked and all other the inode items are ignored.
+	 * operation. The former is what the receiver operation does.
+	 * Therefore, if we want to send these snapshots soon after they're
+	 * received, we need to handle orphan inodes as well. Moreover,
+	 * orphans can appear not only in the send snapshot but also in the
+	 * parent snapshot. Here are several cases:
+	 *
+	 * Case 1: BTRFS_COMPARE_TREE_NEW
+	 *       |  send snapshot  | action
+	 * --------------------------------
+	 * nlink |        0        | ignore
+	 *
+	 * Case 2: BTRFS_COMPARE_TREE_DELETED
+	 *       | parent snapshot | action
+	 * ----------------------------------
+	 * nlink |        0        | as usual
+	 * Note: No unlinks will be sent because there're no paths for it.
+	 *
+	 * Case 3: BTRFS_COMPARE_TREE_CHANGED
+	 *           |       | parent snapshot | send snapshot | action
+	 * -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+	 * subcase 1 | nlink |        0        |       0       | ignore
+	 * subcase 2 | nlink |       >0        |       0       | new_gen(deletion)
+	 * subcase 3 | nlink |        0        |      >0       | new_gen(creation)
+	 *
 	 */
-	if (result == BTRFS_COMPARE_TREE_NEW ||
-	    result == BTRFS_COMPARE_TREE_CHANGED) {
-		u32 nlinks;
-
-		nlinks = btrfs_inode_nlink(sctx->left_path->nodes[0], left_ii);
-		if (nlinks == 0) {
+	if (result == BTRFS_COMPARE_TREE_NEW) {
+		if (btrfs_inode_nlink(sctx->left_path->nodes[0], left_ii) ==
+				      0) {
 			sctx->ignore_cur_inode = true;
-			if (result == BTRFS_COMPARE_TREE_CHANGED)
-				ret = btrfs_unlink_all_paths(sctx);
 			goto out;
 		}
-	}
-
-	if (result == BTRFS_COMPARE_TREE_NEW) {
 		sctx->cur_inode_gen = left_gen;
 		sctx->cur_inode_new = true;
 		sctx->cur_inode_deleted = false;
@@ -6622,6 +6559,18 @@ static int changed_inode(struct send_ctx *sctx,
 		sctx->cur_inode_mode = btrfs_inode_mode(
 				sctx->right_path->nodes[0], right_ii);
 	} else if (result == BTRFS_COMPARE_TREE_CHANGED) {
+		u32 new_nlinks, old_nlinks;
+
+		new_nlinks = btrfs_inode_nlink(sctx->left_path->nodes[0],
+					       left_ii);
+		old_nlinks = btrfs_inode_nlink(sctx->right_path->nodes[0],
+					       right_ii);
+		if (new_nlinks == 0 && old_nlinks == 0) {
+			sctx->ignore_cur_inode = true;
+			goto out;
+		} else if (new_nlinks == 0 || old_nlinks == 0) {
+			sctx->cur_inode_new_gen = 1;
+		}
 		/*
 		 * We need to do some special handling in case the inode was
 		 * reported as changed with a changed generation number. This
@@ -6648,38 +6597,45 @@ static int changed_inode(struct send_ctx *sctx,
 			/*
 			 * Now process the inode as if it was new.
 			 */
-			sctx->cur_inode_gen = left_gen;
-			sctx->cur_inode_new = true;
-			sctx->cur_inode_deleted = false;
-			sctx->cur_inode_size = btrfs_inode_size(
-					sctx->left_path->nodes[0], left_ii);
-			sctx->cur_inode_mode = btrfs_inode_mode(
-					sctx->left_path->nodes[0], left_ii);
-			sctx->cur_inode_rdev = btrfs_inode_rdev(
-					sctx->left_path->nodes[0], left_ii);
-			ret = send_create_inode_if_needed(sctx);
-			if (ret < 0)
-				goto out;
+			if (new_nlinks > 0) {
+				sctx->cur_inode_gen = left_gen;
+				sctx->cur_inode_new = true;
+				sctx->cur_inode_deleted = false;
+				sctx->cur_inode_size = btrfs_inode_size(
+						sctx->left_path->nodes[0],
+						left_ii);
+				sctx->cur_inode_mode = btrfs_inode_mode(
+						sctx->left_path->nodes[0],
+						left_ii);
+				sctx->cur_inode_rdev = btrfs_inode_rdev(
+						sctx->left_path->nodes[0],
+						left_ii);
+				ret = send_create_inode_if_needed(sctx);
+				if (ret < 0)
+					goto out;
 
-			ret = process_all_refs(sctx, BTRFS_COMPARE_TREE_NEW);
-			if (ret < 0)
-				goto out;
-			/*
-			 * Advance send_progress now as we did not get into
-			 * process_recorded_refs_if_needed in the new_gen case.
-			 */
-			sctx->send_progress = sctx->cur_ino + 1;
+				ret = process_all_refs(sctx,
+						BTRFS_COMPARE_TREE_NEW);
+				if (ret < 0)
+					goto out;
+				/*
+				 * Advance send_progress now as we did not get
+				 * into process_recorded_refs_if_needed in the
+				 * new_gen case.
+				 */
+				sctx->send_progress = sctx->cur_ino + 1;
 
-			/*
-			 * Now process all extents and xattrs of the inode as if
-			 * they were all new.
-			 */
-			ret = process_all_extents(sctx);
-			if (ret < 0)
-				goto out;
-			ret = process_all_new_xattrs(sctx);
-			if (ret < 0)
-				goto out;
+				/*
+				 * Now process all extents and xattrs of the
+				 * inode as if they were all new.
+				 */
+				ret = process_all_extents(sctx);
+				if (ret < 0)
+					goto out;
+				ret = process_all_new_xattrs(sctx);
+				if (ret < 0)
+					goto out;
+			}
 		} else {
 			sctx->cur_inode_gen = left_gen;
 			sctx->cur_inode_new = false;
