But it could have been worse for Forest, as the League One minnows gave their former Premiership hosts more than one scare.
Forest themselves had chances to score, most notably through Gareth Taylor and Nathan Tyson.
But it was the Reds' Paul Gerrard who was the busier of the two keepers, as he made fine saves to deny both Sammy Clingan and Adam Smith, as Roy McFarland's side came close to upsetting Forest's run that had previously stretched to ten games unbeaten on the banks of the Trent.
The match began with lowly Chesterfield showing the greater confidence of the two sides, as they produced the better quality football.
But, in terms of the limited chances the game produced early on, the honours were fairly evenly shared.
A neat passing move in the first five minutes culminated with a half chance for Smith, whose finish lacked the panache of the build-up that went before it as he mis-fired a shot badly wide.
Forest hit back as a Nicky Southall cross was poorly dealt with by Barry Roche, Chesterfield's keeper, who was marking his first return to the club where he began his professional career, giving Taylor the chance to plant a header towards the empty net, which bounced frustratingly into the sidenetting.
Southall was involved again as he played a short corner to Kris Commons, who charged into the Chesterfield box from a tight angle and carried the ball through two challenges before squaring the ball into the path of John Curtis, who saw his immediate drive charged down.
Chesterfield continued to enjoy spells of pressure of their own and could have had several opportunities, had Paul Hall's timing been better, with the winger being caught narrowly offside on three occasions, when he would otherwise have found himself clean through on goal.
McFarland's side maintained a neat approach, but almost made the breakthrough when playing a little more direct, as Colin Larkin launched a solo run at the Forest defence that carried him through two challenges before he cut the ball back into the path of Hall, only for Wes Morgan to make the vital interception.
A poor headed back pass from Nicky Eaden left Forest keeper Gerrard exposed but, after Larkin had intercepted, Smith could only direct the ball over the empty net.
Forest switched to a 4-3-3 after the break, with Southall unlucky to see a powerful 25-yard effort deflected wide for Forest, but Chesterfield hit back immediately, as Smith forced a fine save from Gerrard with an angled shot from 12 yards and again as Hall hit a shot on the turn that flew narrowly over.
Commons tried one from range that was not too far wide from Forest, but it was Gerrard who was again the busier of the two keepers, this time as Clingan completed a mazy run with a fine low shot that the Forest man did well to deflect round the post.
Chesterfield survived a late scare as keeper Roche lingered over a clearance and fired the ball into the advancing Tyson, but fortunately the ball bounced away to safety.