diff --git a/security/integrity/ima/ima_appraise.c b/security/integrity/ima/ima_appraise.c
index 23b04c6521b2..9368688449b0 100644
--- a/security/integrity/ima/ima_appraise.c
+++ b/security/integrity/ima/ima_appraise.c
@@ -352,7 +352,8 @@ 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: