diff --git a/fs/ubifs/tnc.c b/fs/ubifs/tnc.c
index 2df56bbc6865..7e34e8e2c0a7 100644
--- a/fs/ubifs/tnc.c
+++ b/fs/ubifs/tnc.c
@@ -265,7 +265,10 @@ static struct ubifs_znode *dirty_cow_znode(struct ubifs_info *c,
 		return zn;
 
 	if (zbr->len) {
-		err = insert_old_idx(c, zbr->lnum, zbr->offs);
+		if (znode->level == 0)
+			err = -ENOMEM;
+		else
+			err = insert_old_idx(c, zbr->lnum, zbr->offs);
 		if (unlikely(err))
 			return ERR_PTR(err);
 		err = add_idx_dirt(c, zbr->lnum, zbr->len);