diff --git a/block/qcow2-cluster.c b/block/qcow2-cluster.c
index ff9ae18e4a..d72d063e6d 100644
--- a/block/qcow2-cluster.c
+++ b/block/qcow2-cluster.c
@@ -454,6 +454,9 @@ int qcow2_get_cluster_offset(BlockDriverState *bs, uint64_t offset,
         *cluster_offset &= L2E_COMPRESSED_OFFSET_SIZE_MASK;
         break;
     case QCOW2_CLUSTER_ZERO:
+        if (s->qcow_version < 3) {
+            return -EIO;
+        }
         c = count_contiguous_clusters(nb_clusters, s->cluster_size,
                 &l2_table[l2_index], 0,
                 QCOW_OFLAG_COMPRESSED | QCOW_OFLAG_ZERO);
diff --git a/block/qcow2.c b/block/qcow2.c
index ad43a13cb0..1f99866cf4 100644
--- a/block/qcow2.c
+++ b/block/qcow2.c
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ static int coroutine_fn qcow2_co_is_allocated(BlockDriverState *bs,
         *pnum = 0;
     }
 
-    return (cluster_offset != 0);
+    return (cluster_offset != 0) || (ret == QCOW2_CLUSTER_ZERO);
 }
 
 /* handle reading after the end of the backing file */
@@ -702,10 +702,6 @@ static coroutine_fn int qcow2_co_readv(BlockDriverState *bs, int64_t sector_num,
             break;
 
         case QCOW2_CLUSTER_ZERO:
-            if (s->qcow_version < 3) {
-                ret = -EIO;
-                goto fail;
-            }
             qemu_iovec_memset(&hd_qiov, 0, 0, 512 * cur_nr_sectors);
             break;