diff --git a/fs/nfs/nfs4idmap.c b/fs/nfs/nfs4idmap.c
index dd5d27da8c0cc5f19d96c33360400778a6a60b5c..30426c1a1bbda245b831bfbac5ff8f1aa570f71f 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/nfs4idmap.c
+++ b/fs/nfs/nfs4idmap.c
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ static struct key *nfs_idmap_request_key(const char *name, size_t namelen,
 	ssize_t ret;
 
 	ret = nfs_idmap_get_desc(name, namelen, type, strlen(type), &desc);
-	if (ret <= 0)
+	if (ret < 0)
 		return ERR_PTR(ret);
 
 	rkey = request_key(&key_type_id_resolver, desc, "");