diff --git a/fs/eventfd.c b/fs/eventfd.c
index 249ca6c0b7843..4a60ea932e3d9 100644
--- a/fs/eventfd.c
+++ b/fs/eventfd.c
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ void eventfd_ctx_do_read(struct eventfd_ctx *ctx, __u64 *cnt)
 {
 	lockdep_assert_held(&ctx->wqh.lock);
 
-	*cnt = (ctx->flags & EFD_SEMAPHORE) ? 1 : ctx->count;
+	*cnt = ((ctx->flags & EFD_SEMAPHORE) && ctx->count) ? 1 : ctx->count;
 	ctx->count -= *cnt;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(eventfd_ctx_do_read);