diff --git a/net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c b/net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c
index 592d6e9967a9..04e2c43a43a5 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/tcp_timer.c
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ static void tcp_probe_timer(struct sock *sk)
 			return;
 	}
 
-	if (icsk->icsk_probes_out > max_probes) {
+	if (icsk->icsk_probes_out >= max_probes) {
 abort:		tcp_write_err(sk);
 	} else {
 		/* Only send another probe if we didn't close things up. */