diff --git a/db/external_sst_file_ingestion_job.cc b/db/external_sst_file_ingestion_job.cc
index 898939afcd0b0e611120f2ce2745754c680f7764..8c29635089f95996d7b187c568e438ca75fc0f21 100644
--- a/db/external_sst_file_ingestion_job.cc
+++ b/db/external_sst_file_ingestion_job.cc
@@ -473,7 +473,10 @@ Status ExternalSstFileIngestionJob::AssignLevelAndSeqnoForIngestedFile(
                             return f1->largest_seqno < f2->largest_seqno;
                           }))
                 ->largest_seqno;
-        if (level_largest_seqno != 0) {
+        // should only assign seqno to current level's largest seqno when
+        // the file fits
+        if (level_largest_seqno != 0 &&
+            IngestedFileFitInLevel(file_to_ingest, lvl)) {
           *assigned_seqno = level_largest_seqno;
         } else {
           continue;