diff --git a/hw/misc/ivshmem.c b/hw/misc/ivshmem.c
index fb53b3ff332b9edbccf2cab80a40b2cd6b0324bf..2162d025a5dc62be64554ae389f86493afe3ecfa 100644
--- a/hw/misc/ivshmem.c
+++ b/hw/misc/ivshmem.c
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ static void ivshmem_read(void *opaque, const uint8_t *buf, int size)
         uint32_t num;
 
         IVSHMEM_DPRINTF("short read of %d bytes\n", size);
-        num = MAX(size, sizeof(long) - fifo8_num_used(&s->incoming_fifo));
+        num = MIN(size, sizeof(long) - fifo8_num_used(&s->incoming_fifo));
         fifo8_push_all(&s->incoming_fifo, buf, num);
         if (fifo8_num_used(&s->incoming_fifo) < sizeof(incoming_posn)) {
             return;