diff --git a/triedb/pathdb/layertree.go b/triedb/pathdb/layertree.go
index ec45257db5..0d7ca5a5b4 100644
--- a/triedb/pathdb/layertree.go
+++ b/triedb/pathdb/layertree.go
@@ -151,6 +151,15 @@ func (tree *layerTree) add(root common.Hash, parentRoot common.Hash, block uint6
 	if root == parentRoot {
 		return errors.New("layer cycle")
 	}
+	// If a layer with this root already exists, skip the insertion. Fork blocks
+	// can produce the same state root as the canonical block (same parent, same
+	// coinbase, zero txs); overwriting tree.layers[root] would corrupt the parent
+	// chain for any child layers already built on top of the existing one, and
+	// appending a duplicate root to the lookup indices causes accountTip/storageTip
+	// to resolve the wrong layer.
+	if tree.get(root) != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
 	parent := tree.get(parentRoot)
 	if parent == nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("triedb parent [%#x] layer missing", parentRoot)
diff --git a/triedb/pathdb/layertree_test.go b/triedb/pathdb/layertree_test.go
index a74c6eb045..285ca67b6c 100644
--- a/triedb/pathdb/layertree_test.go
+++ b/triedb/pathdb/layertree_test.go
@@ -575,6 +575,40 @@ func TestDescendant(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestDuplicateRootLookup(t *testing.T) {
+	// Chain:
+	//   C1->C2->C3 (HEAD)
+	tr := newTestLayerTree() // base = 0x1
+	tr.add(common.Hash{0x2}, common.Hash{0x1}, 1, NewNodeSetWithOrigin(nil, nil),
+		NewStateSetWithOrigin(randomAccountSet("0xa"), randomStorageSet([]string{"0xa"}, [][]string{{"0x1"}}, nil), nil, nil, false))
+	tr.add(common.Hash{0x3}, common.Hash{0x2}, 2, NewNodeSetWithOrigin(nil, nil),
+		NewStateSetWithOrigin(randomAccountSet("0xa"), randomStorageSet([]string{"0xa"}, [][]string{{"0x1"}}, nil), nil, nil, false))
+
+	// A fork block with the same state root as C2; inserting it must not
+	// pollute the lookup history for the canonical descendant C3.
+	tr.add(common.Hash{0x2}, common.Hash{0x1}, 1, NewNodeSetWithOrigin(nil, nil),
+		NewStateSetWithOrigin(randomAccountSet("0xa"), randomStorageSet([]string{"0xa"}, [][]string{{"0x1"}}, nil), nil, nil, false))
+	if n := tr.len(); n != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("duplicate root insert changed layer count, got %d, want 3", n)
+	}
+
+	l, err := tr.lookupAccount(common.HexToHash("0xa"), common.Hash{0x3})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("account lookup failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	if l.rootHash() != (common.Hash{0x3}) {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected account tip, want %x, got %x", common.Hash{0x3}, l.rootHash())
+	}
+
+	l, err = tr.lookupStorage(common.HexToHash("0xa"), common.HexToHash("0x1"), common.Hash{0x3})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("storage lookup failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	if l.rootHash() != (common.Hash{0x3}) {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected storage tip, want %x, got %x", common.Hash{0x3}, l.rootHash())
+	}
+}
+
 func TestAccountLookup(t *testing.T) {
 	// Chain:
 	//   C1->C2->C3->C4 (HEAD)