diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/aops.c b/fs/ocfs2/aops.c
index 506c24fb5078..a53da1466277 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/aops.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/aops.c
@@ -594,7 +594,7 @@ static int ocfs2_direct_IO_get_blocks(struct inode *inode, sector_t iblock,
 		goto bail;
 	}
 
-	if (!ocfs2_sparse_alloc(OCFS2_SB(inode->i_sb)) && !p_blkno) {
+	if (!ocfs2_sparse_alloc(OCFS2_SB(inode->i_sb)) && !p_blkno && create) {
 		ocfs2_error(inode->i_sb,
 			    "Inode %llu has a hole at block %llu\n",
 			    (unsigned long long)OCFS2_I(inode)->ip_blkno,