diff --git a/src/mir/method/fe/CalculateCellLongestDiagonal.cc b/src/mir/method/fe/CalculateCellLongestDiagonal.cc
index 4f9ff9300..61b69e03c 100644
--- a/src/mir/method/fe/CalculateCellLongestDiagonal.cc
+++ b/src/mir/method/fe/CalculateCellLongestDiagonal.cc
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ double CalculateCellLongestDiagonal::operator()(atlas::Mesh& mesh, bool include_
                         d = std::max(d, util::Earth::distance(P[ni], P[nj]));
                         if (d > dMax) {
                             Log::warning() << "CalculateCellLongestDiagonal: limited to maximum " << dMax << "m";
+                            mesh.metadata().set(name_, dMax);
                             return dMax;
                         }
                     }