diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
index a7517370b..03e8bda6b 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ The following tip changes can be tested by building VictoriaMetrics components f
 * BUGFIX: [vmui](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/#vmui): fix `RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded` error when the query returns too many data points at `Table` view. See [this pull request](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/3092/files).
 * BUGFIX: [vmalert](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmalert.html): re-evaluate annotations per each alert evaluation. Previously, annotations were evaluated only on alert's value ch
 ange. This could result in stale annotations in some cases described in [this pull request](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/3119).
+* BUGFIX: prevent from excessive CPU usage when the storage enters [read-only mode](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/Cluster-VictoriaMetrics.html#readonly-mode). The previous fix in [v1.79.3](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/CHANGELOG.html#v1793) wasn't complete.
 
 
 ## [v1.79.3](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/releases/tag/v1.79.3)
diff --git a/lib/mergeset/table.go b/lib/mergeset/table.go
index eea3bf93c..08416a194 100644
--- a/lib/mergeset/table.go
+++ b/lib/mergeset/table.go
@@ -710,7 +710,7 @@ func (tb *Table) mergeRawItemsBlocks(ibs []*inmemoryBlock, isFinal bool) {
 			atomic.AddUint64(&tb.assistedMerges, 1)
 			continue
 		}
-		if errors.Is(err, errNothingToMerge) || errors.Is(err, errForciblyStopped) {
+		if errors.Is(err, errNothingToMerge) || errors.Is(err, errForciblyStopped) || errors.Is(err, errReadOnlyMode) {
 			return
 		}
 		logger.Panicf("FATAL: cannot merge small parts: %s", err)
@@ -805,12 +805,14 @@ func (tb *Table) canBackgroundMerge() bool {
 	return atomic.LoadUint32(tb.isReadOnly) == 0
 }
 
+var errReadOnlyMode = fmt.Errorf("storage is in readonly mode")
+
 func (tb *Table) mergeExistingParts(isFinal bool) error {
 	if !tb.canBackgroundMerge() {
 		// Do not perform background merge in read-only mode
 		// in order to prevent from disk space shortage.
 		// See https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/2603
-		return nil
+		return errReadOnlyMode
 	}
 	n := fs.MustGetFreeSpace(tb.path)
 	// Divide free space by the max number of concurrent merges.
@@ -849,7 +851,7 @@ func (tb *Table) partMerger() error {
 			// The merger has been stopped.
 			return nil
 		}
-		if !errors.Is(err, errNothingToMerge) {
+		if !errors.Is(err, errNothingToMerge) && !errors.Is(err, errReadOnlyMode) {
 			return err
 		}
 		if fasttime.UnixTimestamp()-lastMergeTime > 30 {