diff --git a/fs/eventpoll.c b/fs/eventpoll.c
index 6c36d9dc6926..d20917b03161 100644
--- a/fs/eventpoll.c
+++ b/fs/eventpoll.c
@@ -2061,7 +2061,8 @@ static int ep_poll(struct eventpoll *ep, struct epoll_event __user *events,
  * @ep: the &struct eventpoll to be currently checked.
  * @depth: Current depth of the path being checked.
  *
- * Return: depth of the subtree, or INT_MAX if we found a loop or went too deep.
+ * Return: depth of the subtree, or a value bigger than EP_MAX_NESTS if we found
+ * a loop or went too deep.
  */
 static int ep_loop_check_proc(struct eventpoll *ep, int depth)
 {
@@ -2080,7 +2081,7 @@ static int ep_loop_check_proc(struct eventpoll *ep, int depth)
 			struct eventpoll *ep_tovisit;
 			ep_tovisit = epi->ffd.file->private_data;
 			if (ep_tovisit == inserting_into || depth > EP_MAX_NESTS)
-				result = INT_MAX;
+				result = EP_MAX_NESTS+1;
 			else
 				result = max(result, ep_loop_check_proc(ep_tovisit, depth + 1) + 1);
 			if (result > EP_MAX_NESTS)