diff --git a/filesystem/ext4/ext4.go b/filesystem/ext4/ext4.go
index 40ddc65..3a54291 100644
--- a/filesystem/ext4/ext4.go
+++ b/filesystem/ext4/ext4.go
@@ -328,8 +328,16 @@ func Create(b backend.Storage, size, start, sectorsize int64, p *Params) (*FileS
 
 	// recalculate if it was not user provided
 	if !userProvidedBlocksize {
-		sectorsPerBlockR, blocksizeR, numblocksR := recalculateBlocksize(numblocks, size)
+		sectorsPerBlockR, blocksizeR, numblocksR := recalculateBlocksize(size)
 		_, blocksize, numblocks = uint8(sectorsPerBlockR), blocksizeR, numblocksR
+		// resize_inode / reserved-GDT growth isn't yet supported for
+		// non-1 KiB block sizes (see TODO further down). When *we*
+		// picked the non-1 KiB default, drop the feature so Create
+		// doesn't try to lay out blocks it can't read back.
+		const oneKiB = uint32(SectorSize512) * 2
+		if blocksize != oneKiB {
+			fflags.reservedGDTBlocksForExpansion = false
+		}
 	}
 
 	// how many blocks in each block group (and therefore how many block groups)
@@ -1865,36 +1873,21 @@ func (fs *FileSystem) readBlock(blockNumber uint64) ([]byte, error) {
 	return blockBytes, nil
 }
 
-// recalculate blocksize based on the existing number of blocks
-// -      0 <= blocks <   3MM         : floppy - blocksize = 1024
-// -    3MM <= blocks < 512MM         : small - blocksize = 1024
-// - 512MM <= blocks < 4*1024*1024MM  : default - blocksize =
-// - 4*1024*1024MM <= blocks < 16*1024*1024MM  : big - blocksize =
-// - 16*1024*1024MM <= blocks   : huge - blocksize =
-//
-// the original code from e2fsprogs https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git/tree/misc/mke2fs.c
-func recalculateBlocksize(numblocks, size int64) (sectorsPerBlock int, blocksize uint32, numBlocksAdjusted int64) {
-	var (
-		million64     = int64(million)
-		sectorSize512 = uint32(SectorSize512)
-	)
-	switch {
-	case 0 <= numblocks && numblocks < 3*million64:
-		sectorsPerBlock = 2
-		blocksize = 2 * sectorSize512
-	case 3*million64 <= numblocks && numblocks < 512*million64:
-		sectorsPerBlock = 2
-		blocksize = 2 * sectorSize512
-	case 512*million64 <= numblocks && numblocks < 4*1024*1024*million64:
-		sectorsPerBlock = 2
-		blocksize = 2 * sectorSize512
-	case 4*1024*1024*million64 <= numblocks && numblocks < 16*1024*1024*million64:
-		sectorsPerBlock = 2
-		blocksize = 2 * sectorSize512
-	case numblocks > 16*1024*1024*million64:
-		sectorsPerBlock = 2
-		blocksize = 2 * sectorSize512
+// recalculateBlocksize picks a default ext4 block size when the caller
+// did not specify one. We follow mke2fs's "small" vs "default" split:
+// 1 KiB blocks below 512 MiB, 4 KiB blocks at or above. The previous
+// implementation hard-coded 1 KiB blocks for all sizes, which made the
+// journal allocator (capped at 128 MiB) need >65535 1-KiB blocks at a
+// few GiB — past both the per-extent cap and the inode's 4-extent root
+// limit. 4 KiB blocks keep a typical journal in a single extent.
+func recalculateBlocksize(size int64) (sectorsPerBlock int, blocksize uint32, numBlocksAdjusted int64) {
+	const smallFilesystemThreshold = 512 * 1024 * 1024 // 512 MiB
+	if size < smallFilesystemThreshold {
+		sectorsPerBlock = 2 // 1 KiB blocks
+	} else {
+		sectorsPerBlock = 8 // 4 KiB blocks
 	}
+	blocksize = uint32(sectorsPerBlock) * uint32(SectorSize512)
 	return sectorsPerBlock, blocksize, size / int64(blocksize)
 }
 
diff --git a/filesystem/ext4/multigb_test.go b/filesystem/ext4/multigb_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c527d68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/filesystem/ext4/multigb_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+package ext4
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/diskfs/go-diskfs/backend/file"
+)
+
+// TestCreateMultiGB exercises Create on filesystems past the 512 MiB
+// threshold at which recalculateBlocksize switches to 4 KiB blocks.
+// 2 GiB is the size that exposed diskfs/go-diskfs#402 under the
+// previous 1 KiB-blocks default (a 64 MiB journal then required 65536
+// blocks, exceeding both the 32768-blocks-per-extent cap and the
+// inode-root extent tree's 4-extent limit).
+func TestCreateMultiGB(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, sizeGiB := range []int64{1, 2} {
+		sizeGiB := sizeGiB
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("%dGiB", sizeGiB), func(t *testing.T) {
+			tmp := t.TempDir()
+			imgPath := filepath.Join(tmp, "fs.img")
+			size := sizeGiB * 1024 * 1024 * 1024
+			f, err := os.Create(imgPath)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			if err := f.Truncate(size); err != nil {
+				_ = f.Close()
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			if err := f.Close(); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			f, err = os.OpenFile(imgPath, os.O_RDWR, 0)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			defer func() { _ = f.Close() }()
+			fs, err := Create(file.New(f, false), size, 0, 512, &Params{})
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Create failed: %v", err)
+			}
+			if fs == nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Create returned nil filesystem")
+			}
+			if err := f.Sync(); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Sync: %v", err)
+			}
+			cmd := exec.Command("e2fsck", "-f", "-n", imgPath)
+			var stdout, stderr bytes.Buffer
+			cmd.Stdout = &stdout
+			cmd.Stderr = &stderr
+			if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("e2fsck failed: %v\nstdout:\n%s\nstderr:\n%s",
+					err, stdout.String(), stderr.String())
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}