diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/mmu_context.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/mmu_context.h
index 1de72ce514cd..ed97ef3b48a7 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/mmu_context.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/mmu_context.h
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ static inline int init_new_context(struct task_struct *tsk,
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_X86_INTEL_MEMORY_PROTECTION_KEYS
 	if (cpu_feature_enabled(X86_FEATURE_OSPKE)) {
-		/* pkey 0 is the default and always allocated */
+		/* pkey 0 is the default and allocated implicitly */
 		mm->context.pkey_allocation_map = 0x1;
 		/* -1 means unallocated or invalid */
 		mm->context.execute_only_pkey = -1;
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/pkeys.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/pkeys.h
index 39cd292805a9..851c04b7a092 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/pkeys.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/pkeys.h
@@ -51,10 +51,10 @@ bool mm_pkey_is_allocated(struct mm_struct *mm, int pkey)
 {
 	/*
 	 * "Allocated" pkeys are those that have been returned
-	 * from pkey_alloc().  pkey 0 is special, and never
-	 * returned from pkey_alloc().
+	 * from pkey_alloc() or pkey 0 which is allocated
+	 * implicitly when the mm is created.
 	 */
-	if (pkey <= 0)
+	if (pkey < 0)
 		return false;
 	if (pkey >= arch_max_pkey())
 		return false;