diff --git a/include/sys/dbuf.h b/include/sys/dbuf.h
index 6262f012e7..f3f2007d51 100644
--- a/include/sys/dbuf.h
+++ b/include/sys/dbuf.h
@@ -348,6 +348,12 @@ boolean_t dbuf_is_metadata(dmu_buf_impl_t *db);
 	(dbuf_is_metadata(_db) &&					\
 	((_db)->db_objset->os_secondary_cache == ZFS_CACHE_METADATA)))
 
+#define	DNODE_LEVEL_IS_L2CACHEABLE(_dn, _level)				\
+	((_dn)->dn_objset->os_secondary_cache == ZFS_CACHE_ALL ||	\
+	(((_level) > 0 ||						\
+	DMU_OT_IS_METADATA((_dn)->dn_handle->dnh_dnode->dn_type)) &&	\
+	((_dn)->dn_objset->os_secondary_cache == ZFS_CACHE_METADATA)))
+
 #ifdef ZFS_DEBUG
 
 /*
diff --git a/module/zfs/dbuf.c b/module/zfs/dbuf.c
index 68d6e01600..60f52d2942 100644
--- a/module/zfs/dbuf.c
+++ b/module/zfs/dbuf.c
@@ -2483,6 +2483,10 @@ dbuf_prefetch_indirect_done(zio_t *zio, arc_buf_t *abuf, void *private)
 		arc_flags_t iter_aflags = ARC_FLAG_NOWAIT;
 		zbookmark_phys_t zb;
 
+		/* flag if L2ARC eligible, l2arc_noprefetch then decides */
+		if (dpa->dpa_aflags & ARC_FLAG_L2CACHE)
+			iter_aflags |= ARC_FLAG_L2CACHE;
+
 		ASSERT3U(dpa->dpa_curlevel, ==, BP_GET_LEVEL(bp));
 
 		SET_BOOKMARK(&zb, dpa->dpa_zb.zb_objset,
@@ -2596,6 +2600,10 @@ dbuf_prefetch(dnode_t *dn, int64_t level, uint64_t blkid, zio_priority_t prio,
 	dpa->dpa_epbs = epbs;
 	dpa->dpa_zio = pio;
 
+	/* flag if L2ARC eligible, l2arc_noprefetch then decides */
+	if (DNODE_LEVEL_IS_L2CACHEABLE(dn, level))
+		dpa->dpa_aflags |= ARC_FLAG_L2CACHE;
+
 	/*
 	 * If we have the indirect just above us, no need to do the asynchronous
 	 * prefetch chain; we'll just run the last step ourselves.  If we're at
@@ -2611,6 +2619,10 @@ dbuf_prefetch(dnode_t *dn, int64_t level, uint64_t blkid, zio_priority_t prio,
 		arc_flags_t iter_aflags = ARC_FLAG_NOWAIT;
 		zbookmark_phys_t zb;
 
+		/* flag if L2ARC eligible, l2arc_noprefetch then decides */
+		if (DNODE_LEVEL_IS_L2CACHEABLE(dn, level))
+			iter_aflags |= ARC_FLAG_L2CACHE;
+
 		SET_BOOKMARK(&zb, ds != NULL ? ds->ds_object : DMU_META_OBJSET,
 		    dn->dn_object, curlevel, curblkid);
 		(void) arc_read(dpa->dpa_zio, dpa->dpa_spa,