diff --git a/lfs.c b/lfs.c
index d4ccb41..c6ff2e9 100644
--- a/lfs.c
+++ b/lfs.c
@@ -1414,7 +1414,8 @@ static int lfs_dir_compact(lfs_t *lfs,
     bool relocated = false;
     bool exhausted = false;
 
-    while (true) {
+    // should we split?
+    while (end - begin > 1) {
         // find size
         lfs_size_t size = 0;
         int err = lfs_dir_traverse(lfs,
@@ -1429,7 +1430,7 @@ static int lfs_dir_compact(lfs_t *lfs,
 
         // space is complicated, we need room for tail, crc, gstate,
         // cleanup delete, and we cap at half a block to give room
-        // for metadata updates
+        // for metadata updates.
         if (size <= lfs_min(lfs->cfg->block_size - 36,
                 lfs_alignup(lfs->cfg->block_size/2, lfs->cfg->prog_size))) {
             break;
diff --git a/tests/test_paths.sh b/tests/test_paths.sh
index 999001a..b1d41a7 100755
--- a/tests/test_paths.sh
+++ b/tests/test_paths.sh
@@ -165,5 +165,29 @@ tests/test.py << TEST
     lfs_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
 TEST
 
+echo "--- Really big path test ---"
+tests/test.py << TEST
+    lfs_mount(&lfs, &cfg) => 0;
+    memset(buffer, 'w', LFS_NAME_MAX);
+    buffer[LFS_NAME_MAX+1] = '\0';
+    lfs_mkdir(&lfs, (char*)buffer) => 0;
+    lfs_remove(&lfs, (char*)buffer) => 0;
+    lfs_file_open(&lfs, &file[0], (char*)buffer,
+            LFS_O_WRONLY | LFS_O_CREAT) => 0;
+    lfs_file_close(&lfs, &file[0]) => 0;
+    lfs_remove(&lfs, (char*)buffer) => 0;
+
+    memcpy(buffer, "coffee/", strlen("coffee/"));
+    memset(buffer+strlen("coffee/"), 'w', LFS_NAME_MAX);
+    buffer[strlen("coffee/")+LFS_NAME_MAX+1] = '\0';
+    lfs_mkdir(&lfs, (char*)buffer) => 0;
+    lfs_remove(&lfs, (char*)buffer) => 0;
+    lfs_file_open(&lfs, &file[0], (char*)buffer,
+            LFS_O_WRONLY | LFS_O_CREAT) => 0;
+    lfs_file_close(&lfs, &file[0]) => 0;
+    lfs_remove(&lfs, (char*)buffer) => 0;
+    lfs_unmount(&lfs) => 0;
+TEST
+
 echo "--- Results ---"
 tests/stats.py