diff --git a/passes/opt/opt_balance_tree.cc b/passes/opt/opt_balance_tree.cc
index 9e4fa0620..5c19e3975 100644
--- a/passes/opt/opt_balance_tree.cc
+++ b/passes/opt/opt_balance_tree.cc
@@ -59,8 +59,9 @@ struct OptBalanceTreeWorker {
 			natural_width = std::max(a_width, b_width);
 		}
 
-		// Only allow cells where Y_WIDTH equals the natural width (no truncation)
-		return y_width == natural_width;
+		// Only allow cells where Y_WIDTH >= natural width (no truncation)
+		// This prevents rebalancing chains where truncation semantics matter
+		return y_width >= natural_width;
 	}
 
 	// Create a balanced binary tree from a vector of source signals