diff --git a/net/sunrpc/sched.c b/net/sunrpc/sched.c
index 4beb6d2957c3..b8be7660b29a 100644
--- a/net/sunrpc/sched.c
+++ b/net/sunrpc/sched.c
@@ -617,7 +617,8 @@ static struct rpc_task *__rpc_find_next_queued_priority(struct rpc_wait_queue *q
 	 * Service a batch of tasks from a single owner.
 	 */
 	q = &queue->tasks[queue->priority];
-	if (!list_empty(q) && --queue->nr) {
+	if (!list_empty(q) && queue->nr) {
+		queue->nr--;
 		task = list_first_entry(q, struct rpc_task, u.tk_wait.list);
 		goto out;
 	}