diff --git a/security/integrity/ima/ima_appraise.c b/security/integrity/ima/ima_appraise.c
index 3dd8c2e4314e..7122a359a268 100644
--- a/security/integrity/ima/ima_appraise.c
+++ b/security/integrity/ima/ima_appraise.c
@@ -396,7 +396,8 @@ int ima_appraise_measurement(enum ima_hooks func,
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	status = evm_verifyxattr(dentry, XATTR_NAME_IMA, xattr_value, rc, iint);
+	status = evm_verifyxattr(dentry, XATTR_NAME_IMA, xattr_value,
+				 rc < 0 ? 0 : rc, iint);
 	switch (status) {
 	case INTEGRITY_PASS:
 	case INTEGRITY_PASS_IMMUTABLE: