diff --git a/lib/libshare/os/linux/nfs.c b/lib/libshare/os/linux/nfs.c
index 004946b0cfe4..3dce818400fc 100644
--- a/lib/libshare/os/linux/nfs.c
+++ b/lib/libshare/os/linux/nfs.c
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 
 
 static boolean_t nfs_available(void);
+static boolean_t exports_available(void);
 
 typedef int (*nfs_shareopt_callback_t)(const char *opt, const char *value,
     void *cookie);
@@ -539,6 +540,8 @@ nfs_commit_shares(void)
 static void
 nfs_truncate_shares(void)
 {
+	if (!exports_available())
+		return;
 	nfs_reset_shares(ZFS_EXPORTS_LOCK, ZFS_EXPORTS_FILE);
 }
 
@@ -566,3 +569,18 @@ nfs_available(void)
 
 	return (avail == 1);
 }
+
+static boolean_t
+exports_available(void)
+{
+	static int avail;
+
+	if (!avail) {
+		if (access(ZFS_EXPORTS_DIR, F_OK) != 0)
+			avail = -1;
+		else
+			avail = 1;
+	}
+
+	return (avail == 1);
+}