diff --git a/clippy_lints/src/non_expressive_names.rs b/clippy_lints/src/non_expressive_names.rs
index 98446eef9d73..45809b359866 100644
--- a/clippy_lints/src/non_expressive_names.rs
+++ b/clippy_lints/src/non_expressive_names.rs
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> SimilarNamesLocalVisitor<'a, 'tcx> {
     fn check_single_char_names(&self) {
         let num_single_char_names = self.single_char_names.iter().flatten().count();
         let threshold = self.lint.single_char_binding_names_threshold;
-        if num_single_char_names as u64 >= threshold {
+        if num_single_char_names as u64 > threshold {
             let span = self
                 .single_char_names
                 .iter()
diff --git a/clippy_lints/src/utils/conf.rs b/clippy_lints/src/utils/conf.rs
index afcfe34f5be8..4b81ff33495c 100644
--- a/clippy_lints/src/utils/conf.rs
+++ b/clippy_lints/src/utils/conf.rs
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ define_Conf! {
     /// Lint: TYPE_COMPLEXITY. The maximum complexity a type can have
     (type_complexity_threshold, "type_complexity_threshold": u64, 250),
     /// Lint: MANY_SINGLE_CHAR_NAMES. The maximum number of single char bindings a scope may have
-    (single_char_binding_names_threshold, "single_char_binding_names_threshold": u64, 5),
+    (single_char_binding_names_threshold, "single_char_binding_names_threshold": u64, 4),
     /// Lint: BOXED_LOCAL. The maximum size of objects (in bytes) that will be linted. Larger objects are ok on the heap
     (too_large_for_stack, "too_large_for_stack": u64, 200),
     /// Lint: ENUM_VARIANT_NAMES. The minimum number of enum variants for the lints about variant names to trigger
diff --git a/tests/ui-toml/zero_single_char_names/clippy.toml b/tests/ui-toml/zero_single_char_names/clippy.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..42a1067b95ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ui-toml/zero_single_char_names/clippy.toml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+single-char-binding-names-threshold = 0
diff --git a/tests/ui-toml/zero_single_char_names/zero_single_char_names.rs b/tests/ui-toml/zero_single_char_names/zero_single_char_names.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..22aaa242b9b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ui-toml/zero_single_char_names/zero_single_char_names.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#![warn(clippy::many_single_char_names)]
+
+fn main() {}