diff --git a/module/os/freebsd/zfs/arc_os.c b/module/os/freebsd/zfs/arc_os.c
index fddb1f0e87cb..77af092e1ed4 100644
--- a/module/os/freebsd/zfs/arc_os.c
+++ b/module/os/freebsd/zfs/arc_os.c
@@ -223,7 +223,10 @@ arc_lowmem(void *arg __unused, int howto __unused)
 	arc_warm = B_TRUE;
 	arc_growtime = gethrtime() + SEC2NSEC(arc_grow_retry);
 	free_memory = arc_available_memory();
-	to_free = (arc_c >> arc_shrink_shift) - MIN(free_memory, 0);
+	int64_t can_free = arc_c - arc_c_min;
+	if (can_free <= 0)
+		return;
+	to_free = (can_free >> arc_shrink_shift) - MIN(free_memory, 0);
 	DTRACE_PROBE2(arc__needfree, int64_t, free_memory, int64_t, to_free);
 	arc_reduce_target_size(to_free);
 
diff --git a/module/zfs/arc.c b/module/zfs/arc.c
index 8d3882694718..215250ea6fec 100644
--- a/module/zfs/arc.c
+++ b/module/zfs/arc.c
@@ -5036,10 +5036,11 @@ arc_reap_cb(void *arg, zthr_t *zthr)
 	 */
 	free_memory = arc_available_memory();
 
-	int64_t to_free =
-	    (arc_c >> arc_shrink_shift) - free_memory;
-	if (to_free > 0) {
-		arc_reduce_target_size(to_free);
+	int64_t can_free = arc_c - arc_c_min;
+	if (can_free > 0) {
+		int64_t to_free = (can_free >> arc_shrink_shift) - free_memory;
+		if (to_free > 0)
+			arc_reduce_target_size(to_free);
 	}
 	spl_fstrans_unmark(cookie);
 }