diff --git a/sqfs/meta.c b/sqfs/meta.c
index 6d8402e..8402597 100644
--- a/sqfs/meta.c
+++ b/sqfs/meta.c
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@ static int write_dir(meta_writer_t *dm, node_t *node)
 			count += 1;
 		}
 
+		if (count > SQFS_MAX_DIR_ENT)
+			count = SQFS_MAX_DIR_ENT;
+
 		hdr.count = htole32(count - 1);
 		hdr.start_block = htole32(c->inode_ref >> 16);
 		hdr.inode_number = htole32(c->inode_num);
diff --git a/sqfs/squashfs.h b/sqfs/squashfs.h
index e0906e4..0869bee 100644
--- a/sqfs/squashfs.h
+++ b/sqfs/squashfs.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #define SQFS_META_BLOCK_SIZE 8192
 #define SQFS_DEFAULT_BLOCK_SIZE 131072
 #define SQFS_DEVBLK_SIZE 4096
+#define SQFS_MAX_DIR_ENT 256
 
 typedef struct {
 	uint32_t magic;