diff --git a/qemu-img.c b/qemu-img.c
index 27f48051b0..78433f3746 100644
--- a/qemu-img.c
+++ b/qemu-img.c
@@ -3801,6 +3801,8 @@ static int img_rebase(int argc, char **argv)
             }
 
             if (prefix_chain_bs) {
+                uint64_t bytes = n;
+
                 /*
                  * If cluster wasn't changed since prefix_chain, we don't need
                  * to take action
@@ -3813,9 +3815,18 @@ static int img_rebase(int argc, char **argv)
                                  strerror(-ret));
                     goto out;
                 }
-                if (!ret) {
+                if (!ret && n) {
                     continue;
                 }
+                if (!n) {
+                    /*
+                     * If we've reached EOF of the old backing, it means that
+                     * offsets beyond the old backing size were read as zeroes.
+                     * Now we will need to explicitly zero the cluster in
+                     * order to preserve that state after the rebase.
+                     */
+                    n = bytes;
+                }
             }
 
             /*