diff --git a/include/sys/dmu.h b/include/sys/dmu.h
index 7871eacc2..7eed5f48b 100644
--- a/include/sys/dmu.h
+++ b/include/sys/dmu.h
@@ -144,9 +144,9 @@ typedef enum dmu_object_byteswap {
 #define	DMU_OT_IS_DDT(ot) \
 	((ot) == DMU_OT_DDT_ZAP)
 
-#define	DMU_OT_IS_CRITICAL(ot) \
+#define	DMU_OT_IS_CRITICAL(ot, level) \
 	(DMU_OT_IS_METADATA(ot) && \
-	(ot) != DMU_OT_DNODE && \
+	((ot) != DMU_OT_DNODE || (level) > 0) && \
 	(ot) != DMU_OT_DIRECTORY_CONTENTS && \
 	(ot) != DMU_OT_SA)
 
diff --git a/man/man7/zfsprops.7 b/man/man7/zfsprops.7
index 42ce1fea6..b7b1047a8 100644
--- a/man/man7/zfsprops.7
+++ b/man/man7/zfsprops.7
@@ -1632,7 +1632,8 @@ When set to
 ZFS stores an extra copy of only critical metadata.
 This can improve file create performance since less metadata
 needs to be written.
-If a single on-disk block is corrupt, at worst a single user file can be lost.
+If a single on-disk block is corrupt, multiple user files or directories
+can be lost.
 .Pp
 When set to
 .Sy none ,
diff --git a/module/zfs/dmu.c b/module/zfs/dmu.c
index b3cea3fbf..131b1d65d 100644
--- a/module/zfs/dmu.c
+++ b/module/zfs/dmu.c
@@ -2358,7 +2358,7 @@ dmu_write_policy(objset_t *os, dnode_t *dn, int level, int wp, zio_prop_t *zp)
 				gang_copies++;
 			break;
 		case ZFS_REDUNDANT_METADATA_SOME:
-			if (DMU_OT_IS_CRITICAL(type)) {
+			if (DMU_OT_IS_CRITICAL(type, level)) {
 				copies++;
 				gang_copies++;
 			} else if (DMU_OT_IS_METADATA(type)) {