diff --git a/lib/libspl/asm-generic/atomic.c b/lib/libspl/asm-generic/atomic.c
index f03f93609a..35535ea49c 100644
--- a/lib/libspl/asm-generic/atomic.c
+++ b/lib/libspl/asm-generic/atomic.c
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ atomic_clear_long_excl(volatile ulong_t *target, uint_t value)
 
 	VERIFY3S(pthread_mutex_lock(&atomic_lock), ==, 0);
 	bit = (1UL << value);
-	if ((*target & bit) != 0) {
+	if ((*target & bit) == 0) {
 		VERIFY3S(pthread_mutex_unlock(&atomic_lock), ==, 0);
 		return (-1);
 	}