diff --git a/kernel/res_counter.c b/kernel/res_counter.c
index 51dbac6a363358b435a14f9e7952b9489eb3bf9d..e791130f85a7ace7bbfc4d412151b912d6b87d49 100644
--- a/kernel/res_counter.c
+++ b/kernel/res_counter.c
@@ -186,8 +186,11 @@ int res_counter_memparse_write_strategy(const char *buf,
 
 	/* return RES_COUNTER_MAX(unlimited) if "-1" is specified */
 	if (*buf == '-') {
-		res = simple_strtoull(buf + 1, &end, 10);
-		if (res != 1 || *end != '\0')
+		int rc = kstrtoull(buf + 1, 10, &res);
+
+		if (rc)
+			return rc;
+		if (res != 1)
 			return -EINVAL;
 		*resp = RES_COUNTER_MAX;
 		return 0;