diff --git a/lib/mergeset/table.go b/lib/mergeset/table.go
index 00d585cda6..10f37fd0d6 100644
--- a/lib/mergeset/table.go
+++ b/lib/mergeset/table.go
@@ -1392,14 +1392,14 @@ func appendPartsToMerge(dst, src []*partWrapper, maxPartsToMerge int, maxItems u
 	// Sort src parts by itemsCount.
 	sort.Slice(src, func(i, j int) bool { return src[i].p.ph.itemsCount < src[j].p.ph.itemsCount })
 
-	minSrcParts := (maxPartsToMerge + 1) / 2
+	maxSrcParts := maxPartsToMerge
+	if maxSrcParts > len(src) {
+		maxSrcParts = len(src)
+	}
+	minSrcParts := (maxSrcParts + 1) / 2
 	if minSrcParts < 2 {
 		minSrcParts = 2
 	}
-	maxSrcParts := maxPartsToMerge
-	if len(src) < maxSrcParts {
-		maxSrcParts = len(src)
-	}
 
 	// Exhaustive search for parts giving the lowest write amplification when merged.
 	var pws []*partWrapper
diff --git a/lib/storage/partition.go b/lib/storage/partition.go
index 3b6213d9c9..46b33b3a74 100644
--- a/lib/storage/partition.go
+++ b/lib/storage/partition.go
@@ -1386,17 +1386,18 @@ func appendPartsToMerge(dst, src []*partWrapper, maxPartsToMerge int, maxRows ui
 
 	// Filter out too big parts.
 	// This should reduce N for O(N^2) algorithm below.
-	needFreeSpace := false
+	skippedBigParts := 0
 	maxInPartRows := maxRows / 2
 	tmp := make([]*partWrapper, 0, len(src))
 	for _, pw := range src {
 		if pw.p.ph.RowsCount > maxInPartRows {
-			needFreeSpace = true
+			skippedBigParts++
 			continue
 		}
 		tmp = append(tmp, pw)
 	}
 	src = tmp
+	needFreeSpace := skippedBigParts > 1
 
 	// Sort src parts by rows count and backwards timestamp.
 	// This should improve adjanced points' locality in the merged parts.
@@ -1409,14 +1410,14 @@ func appendPartsToMerge(dst, src []*partWrapper, maxPartsToMerge int, maxRows ui
 		return a.RowsCount < b.RowsCount
 	})
 
-	minSrcParts := (maxPartsToMerge + 1) / 2
+	maxSrcParts := maxPartsToMerge
+	if maxSrcParts > len(src) {
+		maxSrcParts = len(src)
+	}
+	minSrcParts := (maxSrcParts + 1) / 2
 	if minSrcParts < 2 {
 		minSrcParts = 2
 	}
-	maxSrcParts := maxPartsToMerge
-	if len(src) < maxSrcParts {
-		maxSrcParts = len(src)
-	}
 
 	// Exhaustive search for parts giving the lowest write amplification when merged.
 	var pws []*partWrapper
@@ -1450,7 +1451,7 @@ func appendPartsToMerge(dst, src []*partWrapper, maxPartsToMerge int, maxRows ui
 	}
 	if maxM < minM {
 		// There is no sense in merging parts with too small m.
-		return dst, false
+		return dst, needFreeSpace
 	}
 	return append(dst, pws...), needFreeSpace
 }
diff --git a/lib/storage/partition_test.go b/lib/storage/partition_test.go
index 60c3a84d2d..7e3506f984 100644
--- a/lib/storage/partition_test.go
+++ b/lib/storage/partition_test.go
@@ -34,6 +34,24 @@ func TestAppendPartsToMerge(t *testing.T) {
 	testAppendPartsToMerge(t, 3, []uint64{11, 1, 10, 100, 10}, []uint64{10, 10, 11})
 }
 
+func TestAppendPartsToMergeNeedFreeSpace(t *testing.T) {
+	f := func(a []uint64, maxItems int, expectedNeedFreeSpace bool) {
+		t.Helper()
+		pws := newTestPartWrappersForRowsCount(a)
+		_, needFreeSpace := appendPartsToMerge(nil, pws, defaultPartsToMerge, uint64(maxItems))
+		if needFreeSpace != expectedNeedFreeSpace {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected needFreeSpace; got %v; want %v", needFreeSpace, expectedNeedFreeSpace)
+		}
+	}
+	f(nil, 1000, false)
+	f([]uint64{1000}, 100, false)
+	f([]uint64{1000}, 1100, false)
+	f([]uint64{100, 200}, 180, true)
+	f([]uint64{100, 200}, 310, false)
+	f([]uint64{100, 110, 109, 1}, 300, true)
+	f([]uint64{100, 110, 109, 1}, 330, false)
+}
+
 func TestAppendPartsToMergeManyParts(t *testing.T) {
 	// Verify that big number of parts are merged into minimal number of parts
 	// using minimum merges.