We show that if a colouring c establishes ω₂ ↛ [(ω₁:ω)]² then c establishes this negative partition relation in each Cohen-generic extension of the ground model, i.e. this property of c is Cohen-indestructible. This result yields a negative answer to a question of Erdős and Hajnal: it is consistent that GCH holds and there is a colouring c:[ω₂]² → 2 establishing ω₂ ↛ [(ω₁:ω)]₂ such that some colouring g:[ω₁]² → 2 does not embed into c. It is also consistent that $2^{\omega ₁}$ is arbitrarily large, and there...