diff --git a/mm/slub.c b/mm/slub.c
index d9aadbfe7c29..9b861b90cde1 100644
--- a/mm/slub.c
+++ b/mm/slub.c
@@ -4466,7 +4466,7 @@ SLAB_ATTR_RO(ctor);
 
 static ssize_t aliases_show(struct kmem_cache *s, char *buf)
 {
-	return sprintf(buf, "%d\n", s->refcount - 1);
+	return sprintf(buf, "%d\n", s->refcount < 0 ? 0 : s->refcount - 1);
 }
 SLAB_ATTR_RO(aliases);