diff --git a/src/hb-object-private.hh b/src/hb-object-private.hh
index 1f61dcea6..00939ed4a 100644
--- a/src/hb-object-private.hh
+++ b/src/hb-object-private.hh
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 
 /* reference_count */
 
-#define HB_REFERENCE_COUNT_INERT_VALUE -1
+#define HB_REFERENCE_COUNT_INERT_VALUE 0
 #define HB_REFERENCE_COUNT_POISON_VALUE -0x0000DEAD
 #define HB_REFERENCE_COUNT_INIT {HB_ATOMIC_INT_INIT(HB_REFERENCE_COUNT_INERT_VALUE)}