diff --git a/kernel/sysctl.c b/kernel/sysctl.c
index a68fed9f69227b..6b7e80ab917870 100644
--- a/kernel/sysctl.c
+++ b/kernel/sysctl.c
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ static int zero;
 static int __maybe_unused one = 1;
 static int __maybe_unused two = 2;
 static int __maybe_unused four = 4;
+static unsigned long zero_ul;
 static unsigned long one_ul = 1;
 static unsigned long long_max = LONG_MAX;
 static int one_hundred = 100;
@@ -1522,7 +1523,7 @@ static struct ctl_table fs_table[] = {
 		.maxlen		= sizeof(files_stat.max_files),
 		.mode		= 0644,
 		.proc_handler	= proc_doulongvec_minmax,
-		.extra1		= &zero,
+		.extra1		= &zero_ul,
 		.extra2		= &long_max,
 	},
 	{