diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy-smq.c b/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy-smq.c
index f3cec4e..c33f4a6 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy-smq.c
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy-smq.c
@@ -1359,6 +1359,11 @@
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&mq->lock, flags);
 }
 
+static unsigned random_level(dm_cblock_t cblock)
+{
+	return hash_32_generic(from_cblock(cblock), 9) & (NR_CACHE_LEVELS - 1);
+}
+
 static int smq_load_mapping(struct dm_cache_policy *p,
 			    dm_oblock_t oblock, dm_cblock_t cblock,
 			    uint32_t hint, bool hint_valid)
@@ -1369,7 +1374,7 @@
 	e = alloc_particular_entry(&mq->cache_alloc, from_cblock(cblock));
 	e->oblock = oblock;
 	e->dirty = false;	/* this gets corrected in a minute */
-	e->level = hint_valid ? min(hint, NR_CACHE_LEVELS - 1) : 1;
+	e->level = hint_valid ? min(hint, NR_CACHE_LEVELS - 1) : random_level(cblock);
 	push(mq, e);
 
 	return 0;