diff --git a/fastboot/fastboot.cpp b/fastboot/fastboot.cpp
index 56b90b981..ac2a20f90 100644
--- a/fastboot/fastboot.cpp
+++ b/fastboot/fastboot.cpp
@@ -1053,8 +1053,10 @@ static bool load_buf_fd(unique_fd fd, struct fastboot_buffer* buf, const Flashin
             return false;
         }
         sparse_file_destroy(s);
+        buf->file_type = FB_BUFFER_SPARSE;
     } else {
         buf->image_size = sz;
+        buf->file_type = FB_BUFFER_FD;
     }
 
     lseek(fd.get(), 0, SEEK_SET);
@@ -1191,6 +1193,15 @@ static void copy_avb_footer(const ImageSource* source, const std::string& partit
         should_flash_in_userspace(source, partition)) {
         return;
     }
+
+    // If the image is sparse, moving the footer will simply corrupt the sparse
+    // format, so currently we don't support moving the footer on sparse files.
+    if (buf->file_type == FB_BUFFER_SPARSE) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "Warning: skip copying " << partition << " image avb footer due to sparse "
+                   << "image.";
+        return;
+    }
+
     // If overflows and negative, it should be < buf->sz.
     int64_t partition_size = static_cast<int64_t>(get_partition_size(partition));
 
diff --git a/fastboot/fastboot.h b/fastboot/fastboot.h
index 2c40890b5..6a4997049 100644
--- a/fastboot/fastboot.h
+++ b/fastboot/fastboot.h
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ enum fb_buffer_type {
 };
 
 struct fastboot_buffer {
-    enum fb_buffer_type type;
+    fb_buffer_type type;
+    fb_buffer_type file_type;
     std::vector<SparsePtr> files;
     int64_t sz;
     unique_fd fd;