diff --git a/block/commit.c b/block/commit.c
index 733c91403c..13d9e82471 100644
--- a/block/commit.c
+++ b/block/commit.c
@@ -211,15 +211,6 @@ void commit_start(BlockDriverState *bs, BlockDriverState *base,
         return;
     }
 
-    /* top and base may be valid, but let's make sure that base is reachable
-     * from top */
-    if (bdrv_find_backing_image(top, base->filename) != base) {
-        error_setg(errp,
-                   "Base (%s) is not reachable from top (%s)",
-                   base->filename, top->filename);
-        return;
-    }
-
     overlay_bs = bdrv_find_overlay(bs, top);
 
     if (overlay_bs == NULL) {
diff --git a/blockdev.c b/blockdev.c
index 99828ad2bd..46e4bbd8d9 100644
--- a/blockdev.c
+++ b/blockdev.c
@@ -1157,16 +1157,6 @@ void qmp_block_commit(const char *device,
         error_set(errp, QERR_DEVICE_NOT_FOUND, device);
         return;
     }
-    if (base && has_base) {
-        base_bs = bdrv_find_backing_image(bs, base);
-    } else {
-        base_bs = bdrv_find_base(bs);
-    }
-
-    if (base_bs == NULL) {
-        error_set(errp, QERR_BASE_NOT_FOUND, base ? base : "NULL");
-        return;
-    }
 
     /* default top_bs is the active layer */
     top_bs = bs;
@@ -1182,6 +1172,17 @@ void qmp_block_commit(const char *device,
         return;
     }
 
+    if (has_base && base) {
+        base_bs = bdrv_find_backing_image(top_bs, base);
+    } else {
+        base_bs = bdrv_find_base(top_bs);
+    }
+
+    if (base_bs == NULL) {
+        error_set(errp, QERR_BASE_NOT_FOUND, base ? base : "NULL");
+        return;
+    }
+
     commit_start(bs, base_bs, top_bs, speed, on_error, block_job_cb, bs,
                 &local_err);
     if (local_err != NULL) {
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/040 b/tests/qemu-iotests/040
index 258e7eae38..0fa6441a53 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/040
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/040
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ class TestSingleDrive(ImageCommitTestCase):
         self.assert_no_active_commit()
         result = self.vm.qmp('block-commit', device='drive0', top='%s' % backing_img, base='%s' % backing_img)
         self.assert_qmp(result, 'error/class', 'GenericError')
-        self.assert_qmp(result, 'error/desc', 'Invalid files for merge: top and base are the same')
+        self.assert_qmp(result, 'error/desc', 'Base \'%s\' not found' % backing_img)
 
     def test_top_invalid(self):
         self.assert_no_active_commit()
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ class TestSingleDrive(ImageCommitTestCase):
         self.assert_no_active_commit()
         result = self.vm.qmp('block-commit', device='drive0', top='%s' % backing_img, base='%s' % mid_img)
         self.assert_qmp(result, 'error/class', 'GenericError')
-        self.assert_qmp(result, 'error/desc', 'Base (%(1)s) is not reachable from top (%(2)s)' % {"1" : mid_img, "2" : backing_img})
+        self.assert_qmp(result, 'error/desc', 'Base \'%s\' not found' % mid_img)
 
     def test_top_omitted(self):
         self.assert_no_active_commit()