diff --git a/fs/xfs/scrub/xfarray.c b/fs/xfs/scrub/xfarray.c
index 685824efdb93..7f85855588ed 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/scrub/xfarray.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/scrub/xfarray.c
@@ -152,6 +152,9 @@ xfarray_trim(
 		return -ENODATA;
 
 	array->nr -= nr;
+	if (!array->nr)
+		array->possibly_sparse = false;
+
 	new_eof = xfarray_pos(array, array->nr);
 	xfile_discard(array->xfile, new_eof, MAX_LFS_FILESIZE - new_eof);
 	return 0;
@@ -179,6 +182,8 @@ xfarray_store(
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
 
+	if (idx > array->nr)
+		array->possibly_sparse = true;
 	array->nr = max(array->nr, idx + 1);
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -853,6 +858,14 @@ xfarray_sort(
 		return 0;
 	if (array->nr >= QSORT_MAX_RECS)
 		return -E2BIG;
+	if (array->possibly_sparse) {
+		/*
+		 * What does it mean to sort an array with holes in it?
+		 * Currently none of the users need this ability.
+		 */
+		ASSERT(!array->possibly_sparse);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 
 	error = xfarray_sortinfo_alloc(array, cmp_fn, flags, &si);
 	if (error)
@@ -1006,4 +1019,5 @@ xfarray_truncate(
 {
 	xfile_discard(array->xfile, 0, MAX_LFS_FILESIZE);
 	array->nr = 0;
+	array->possibly_sparse = false;
 }
diff --git a/fs/xfs/scrub/xfarray.h b/fs/xfs/scrub/xfarray.h
index d55225c7885b..05ff65b09fcf 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/scrub/xfarray.h
+++ b/fs/xfs/scrub/xfarray.h
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ struct xfarray {
 
 	/* log2 of array element size, if possible. */
 	int		obj_size_log;
+
+	/* Might there be sparse holes in this array? */
+	bool		possibly_sparse;
 };
 
 int xfarray_create(const char *descr, unsigned long long required_capacity,