diff --git a/src/unix/ev/ev_epoll.c b/src/unix/ev/ev_epoll.c
index 5deb6521..e8101e56 100644
--- a/src/unix/ev/ev_epoll.c
+++ b/src/unix/ev/ev_epoll.c
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ epoll_init (EV_P_ int flags)
 #ifdef EPOLL_CLOEXEC
   backend_fd = epoll_create1 (EPOLL_CLOEXEC);
 
-  if (backend_fd <= 0)
+  if (backend_fd < 0)
 #endif
     backend_fd = epoll_create (256);