diff --git a/fs/ext4/namei.c b/fs/ext4/namei.c
index a630b27a4cc6..0a111274dc4a 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/namei.c
@@ -2043,7 +2043,7 @@ static struct ext4_dir_entry_2 *do_split(handle_t *handle, struct inode *dir,
 		split = count/2;
 
 	hash2 = map[split].hash;
-	continued = hash2 == map[split - 1].hash;
+	continued = split > 0 ? hash2 == map[split - 1].hash : 0;
 	dxtrace(printk(KERN_INFO "Split block %lu at %x, %i/%i\n",
 			(unsigned long)dx_get_block(frame->at),
 					hash2, split, count-split));