diff --git a/drivers/iio/industrialio-backend.c b/drivers/iio/industrialio-backend.c
index 10e689f49441..cd697fbeae47 100644
--- a/drivers/iio/industrialio-backend.c
+++ b/drivers/iio/industrialio-backend.c
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ static ssize_t iio_backend_debugfs_write_reg(struct file *file,
 	ssize_t rc;
 	int ret;
 
-	if (count >= sizeof(buf))
+	if (*ppos != 0 || count >= sizeof(buf))
 		return -ENOSPC;
 
 	rc = simple_write_to_buffer(buf, sizeof(buf) - 1, ppos, userbuf, count);