diff --git a/lfs.c b/lfs.c
index aed1b072..26168e2c 100644
--- a/lfs.c
+++ b/lfs.c
@@ -2154,6 +2154,12 @@ static int lfs_dir_splittingcompact(lfs_t *lfs, lfs_mdir_t *dir,
         // do we have extra space? littlefs can't reclaim this space
         // by itself, so expand cautiously
         if ((lfs_size_t)size < lfs->block_count/2) {
+
+        // littlefs cannot reclaim expanded superblocks, so expand cautiously
+        //
+        // if our filesystem is more than ~88% full, don't expand, this is
+        // somewhat arbitrary
+        if (lfs->block_count - size > lfs->block_count/8) {
             LFS_DEBUG("Expanding superblock at rev %"PRIu32, dir->rev);
             int err = lfs_dir_split(lfs, dir, attrs, attrcount,
                     source, begin, end);