diff --git a/fsmonitor.c b/fsmonitor.c
index 1f4aa1b150..0477500b39 100644
--- a/fsmonitor.c
+++ b/fsmonitor.c
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ int read_fsmonitor_extension(struct index_state *istate, const void *data,
 	}
 	istate->fsmonitor_dirty = fsmonitor_dirty;
 
-	if (istate->fsmonitor_dirty->bit_size > istate->cache_nr)
+	if (!istate->split_index &&
+	    istate->fsmonitor_dirty->bit_size > istate->cache_nr)
 		BUG("fsmonitor_dirty has more entries than the index (%"PRIuMAX" > %u)",
 		    (uintmax_t)istate->fsmonitor_dirty->bit_size, istate->cache_nr);
 
@@ -83,7 +84,8 @@ void write_fsmonitor_extension(struct strbuf *sb, struct index_state *istate)
 	uint32_t ewah_size = 0;
 	int fixup = 0;
 
-	if (istate->fsmonitor_dirty->bit_size > istate->cache_nr)
+	if (!istate->split_index &&
+	    istate->fsmonitor_dirty->bit_size > istate->cache_nr)
 		BUG("fsmonitor_dirty has more entries than the index (%"PRIuMAX" > %u)",
 		    (uintmax_t)istate->fsmonitor_dirty->bit_size, istate->cache_nr);