diff --git a/block/monitor/bitmap-qmp-cmds.c b/block/monitor/bitmap-qmp-cmds.c
index bd10468596..282363606f 100644
--- a/block/monitor/bitmap-qmp-cmds.c
+++ b/block/monitor/bitmap-qmp-cmds.c
@@ -261,8 +261,9 @@ BdrvDirtyBitmap *block_dirty_bitmap_merge(const char *node, const char *target,
                                           HBitmap **backup, Error **errp)
 {
     BlockDriverState *bs;
-    BdrvDirtyBitmap *dst, *src, *anon;
+    BdrvDirtyBitmap *dst, *src;
     BlockDirtyBitmapOrStrList *lst;
+    HBitmap *local_backup = NULL;
 
     GLOBAL_STATE_CODE();
 
@@ -271,12 +272,6 @@ BdrvDirtyBitmap *block_dirty_bitmap_merge(const char *node, const char *target,
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    anon = bdrv_create_dirty_bitmap(bs, bdrv_dirty_bitmap_granularity(dst),
-                                    NULL, errp);
-    if (!anon) {
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
     for (lst = bms; lst; lst = lst->next) {
         switch (lst->value->type) {
             const char *name, *node;
@@ -285,8 +280,7 @@ BdrvDirtyBitmap *block_dirty_bitmap_merge(const char *node, const char *target,
             src = bdrv_find_dirty_bitmap(bs, name);
             if (!src) {
                 error_setg(errp, "Dirty bitmap '%s' not found", name);
-                dst = NULL;
-                goto out;
+                goto fail;
             }
             break;
         case QTYPE_QDICT:
@@ -294,29 +288,36 @@ BdrvDirtyBitmap *block_dirty_bitmap_merge(const char *node, const char *target,
             name = lst->value->u.external.name;
             src = block_dirty_bitmap_lookup(node, name, NULL, errp);
             if (!src) {
-                dst = NULL;
-                goto out;
+                goto fail;
             }
             break;
         default:
             abort();
         }
 
-        if (!bdrv_merge_dirty_bitmap(anon, src, NULL, errp)) {
-            dst = NULL;
-            goto out;
+        /* We do backup only for first merge operation */
+        if (!bdrv_merge_dirty_bitmap(dst, src,
+                                     local_backup ? NULL : &local_backup,
+                                     errp))
+        {
+            goto fail;
         }
     }
 
-    /* Merge into dst; dst is unchanged on failure. */
-    if (!bdrv_merge_dirty_bitmap(dst, anon, backup, errp)) {
-        dst = NULL;
-        goto out;
+    if (backup) {
+        *backup = local_backup;
+    } else {
+        hbitmap_free(local_backup);
     }
 
- out:
-    bdrv_release_dirty_bitmap(anon);
     return dst;
+
+fail:
+    if (local_backup) {
+        bdrv_restore_dirty_bitmap(dst, local_backup);
+    }
+
+    return NULL;
 }
 
 void qmp_block_dirty_bitmap_merge(const char *node, const char *target,