diff --git a/util/async.c b/util/async.c
index a1f07fc5a7..0cc3037e0c 100644
--- a/util/async.c
+++ b/util/async.c
@@ -744,7 +744,7 @@ void aio_context_set_thread_pool_params(AioContext *ctx, int64_t min,
                                         int64_t max, Error **errp)
 {
 
-    if (min > max || !max || min > INT_MAX || max > INT_MAX) {
+    if (min > max || max <= 0 || min < 0 || min > INT_MAX || max > INT_MAX) {
         error_setg(errp, "bad thread-pool-min/thread-pool-max values");
         return;
     }