diff --git a/fs/ext4/namei.c b/fs/ext4/namei.c
index a2425e2d439c..186a2dd05bd8 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/namei.c
@@ -1732,7 +1732,7 @@ static struct ext4_dir_entry_2 *do_split(handle_t *handle, struct inode *dir,
 			     blocksize, hinfo, map);
 	map -= count;
 	dx_sort_map(map, count);
-	/* Split the existing block in the middle, size-wise */
+	/* Ensure that neither split block is over half full */
 	size = 0;
 	move = 0;
 	for (i = count-1; i >= 0; i--) {
@@ -1742,8 +1742,18 @@ static struct ext4_dir_entry_2 *do_split(handle_t *handle, struct inode *dir,
 		size += map[i].size;
 		move++;
 	}
-	/* map index at which we will split */
-	split = count - move;
+	/*
+	 * map index at which we will split
+	 *
+	 * If the sum of active entries didn't exceed half the block size, just
+	 * split it in half by count; each resulting block will have at least
+	 * half the space free.
+	 */
+	if (i > 0)
+		split = count - move;
+	else
+		split = count/2;
+
 	hash2 = map[split].hash;
 	continued = hash2 == map[split - 1].hash;
 	dxtrace(printk(KERN_INFO "Split block %lu at %x, %i/%i\n",