diff --git a/kernel/ucount.c b/kernel/ucount.c
index 65b597431c861aa4a949e4914f073118aa7b0567..06ea04d4468522aac6526a986d14429490c9bbef 100644
--- a/kernel/ucount.c
+++ b/kernel/ucount.c
@@ -350,7 +350,8 @@ bool is_ucounts_overlimit(struct ucounts *ucounts, enum ucount_type type, unsign
 	if (rlimit > LONG_MAX)
 		max = LONG_MAX;
 	for (iter = ucounts; iter; iter = iter->ns->ucounts) {
-		if (get_ucounts_value(iter, type) > max)
+		long val = get_ucounts_value(iter, type);
+		if (val < 0 || val > max)
 			return true;
 		max = READ_ONCE(iter->ns->ucount_max[type]);
 	}