diff --git a/openvdb/openvdb/tree/LeafNode.h b/openvdb/openvdb/tree/LeafNode.h
index 33ec3a56ae..5fd148e297 100644
--- a/openvdb/openvdb/tree/LeafNode.h
+++ b/openvdb/openvdb/tree/LeafNode.h
@@ -1610,6 +1610,7 @@ LeafNode<T, Log2Dim>::resetBackground(const ValueType& oldBackground,
                                       const ValueType& newBackground)
 {
     if (!this->allocate()) return;
+    if (math::isExactlyEqual(oldBackground, newBackground)) return;
 
     typename NodeMaskType::OffIterator iter;
     // For all inactive values...