diff --git a/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c b/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c
index 828835cb070..85dd09be161 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c
@@ -2977,8 +2977,7 @@ void tcp_rearm_rto(struct sock *sk)
 			/* delta may not be positive if the socket is locked
 			 * when the retrans timer fires and is rescheduled.
 			 */
-			if (delta > 0)
-				rto = delta;
+			rto = max_t(int, delta, 1);
 		}
 		inet_csk_reset_xmit_timer(sk, ICSK_TIME_RETRANS, rto,
 					  TCP_RTO_MAX);