diff --git a/block/qcow2-refcount.c b/block/qcow2-refcount.c
index 55543edf77b7cc8c7bcc3df862b64722e5f5622c..e8b5d0a4ac43e07adf31b5dfcafd133065642608 100644
--- a/block/qcow2-refcount.c
+++ b/block/qcow2-refcount.c
@@ -201,7 +201,10 @@ static int alloc_refcount_block(BlockDriverState *bs,
     *refcount_block = NULL;
 
     /* We write to the refcount table, so we might depend on L2 tables */
-    qcow2_cache_flush(bs, s->l2_table_cache);
+    ret = qcow2_cache_flush(bs, s->l2_table_cache);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        return ret;
+    }
 
     /* Allocate the refcount block itself and mark it as used */
     int64_t new_block = alloc_clusters_noref(bs, s->cluster_size);
@@ -237,7 +240,10 @@ static int alloc_refcount_block(BlockDriverState *bs,
             goto fail_block;
         }
 
-        bdrv_flush(bs->file);
+        ret = qcow2_cache_flush(bs, s->refcount_block_cache);
+        if (ret < 0) {
+            goto fail_block;
+        }
 
         /* Initialize the new refcount block only after updating its refcount,
          * update_refcount uses the refcount cache itself */