diff --git a/atlassian/jira.py b/atlassian/jira.py
index a6abd2e98..963427d5c 100644
--- a/atlassian/jira.py
+++ b/atlassian/jira.py
@@ -3202,7 +3202,7 @@ def get_project_issues_count(self, project: str):
         response = self.jql(jql, fields="*none")
         if self.advanced_mode:
             return cast("Response", response)
-        return cast("dict", response)["total"]
+        return len(cast("dict", response)["issues"])
 
     def get_all_project_issues(
         self, project: str, fields: Union[str, List[str]] = "*all", start: int = 0, limit: Optional[int] = None