diff --git a/fs/ubifs/shrinker.c b/fs/ubifs/shrinker.c
index 02feb59cefcac356768d8efdf9e69c9c1ded811e..aec66890388c2c52521f3d3f23447667e0fb8c65 100644
--- a/fs/ubifs/shrinker.c
+++ b/fs/ubifs/shrinker.c
@@ -283,7 +283,11 @@ int ubifs_shrinker(int nr, gfp_t gfp_mask)
 	long clean_zn_cnt = atomic_long_read(&ubifs_clean_zn_cnt);
 
 	if (nr == 0)
-		return clean_zn_cnt;
+		/*
+		 * Due to the way UBIFS updates the clean znode counter it may
+		 * temporarily be negative.
+		 */
+		return clean_zn_cnt >= 0 ? clean_zn_cnt : 1;
 
 	if (!clean_zn_cnt) {
 		/*