diff --git a/kernel/bpf/lpm_trie.c b/kernel/bpf/lpm_trie.c
index abf1002080df..93a5cbbde421 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/lpm_trie.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/lpm_trie.c
@@ -471,6 +471,7 @@ static int trie_delete_elem(struct bpf_map *map, void *_key)
 	}
 
 	if (!node || node->prefixlen != key->prefixlen ||
+	    node->prefixlen != matchlen ||
 	    (node->flags & LPM_TREE_NODE_FLAG_IM)) {
 		ret = -ENOENT;
 		goto out;
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/test_lpm_map.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/test_lpm_map.c
index 147e34cfceb7..02d7c871862a 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/test_lpm_map.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/test_lpm_map.c
@@ -474,6 +474,16 @@ static void test_lpm_delete(void)
 	assert(bpf_map_lookup_elem(map_fd, key, &value) == -1 &&
 		errno == ENOENT);
 
+	key->prefixlen = 30; // unused prefix so far
+	inet_pton(AF_INET, "192.255.0.0", key->data);
+	assert(bpf_map_delete_elem(map_fd, key) == -1 &&
+		errno == ENOENT);
+
+	key->prefixlen = 16; // same prefix as the root node
+	inet_pton(AF_INET, "192.255.0.0", key->data);
+	assert(bpf_map_delete_elem(map_fd, key) == -1 &&
+		errno == ENOENT);
+
 	/* assert initial lookup */
 	key->prefixlen = 32;
 	inet_pton(AF_INET, "192.168.0.1", key->data);