diff --git a/src/basic/fs-util.c b/src/basic/fs-util.c
index 3ff8615797..281b85d900 100644
--- a/src/basic/fs-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/fs-util.c
@@ -926,6 +926,7 @@ int chase_symlinks(const char *path, const char *original_root, unsigned flags,
                 if (fstat(child, &st) < 0)
                         return -errno;
                 if ((flags & CHASE_SAFE) &&
+                    (empty_or_root(root) || (size_t)(todo - buffer) > strlen(root)) &&
                     unsafe_transition(&previous_stat, &st))
                         return log_unsafe_transition(fd, child, path, flags);