diff --git a/shared-bindings/socketpool/Socket.c b/shared-bindings/socketpool/Socket.c
index 250e9c874e..e1b1e69672 100644
--- a/shared-bindings/socketpool/Socket.c
+++ b/shared-bindings/socketpool/Socket.c
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ STATIC mp_obj_t socketpool_socket_recv_into(size_t n_args, const mp_obj_t *args)
     mp_int_t len = bufinfo.len;
     if (n_args == 3) {
         mp_int_t given_len = mp_obj_get_int(args[2]);
-        if (given_len < len) {
+        if (given_len > 0 && given_len < len) {
             len = given_len;
         }
     }