diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/io/retry/RetryPolicies.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/io/retry/RetryPolicies.java
index adf23c075f393..61ee695241dac 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/io/retry/RetryPolicies.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/io/retry/RetryPolicies.java
@@ -656,7 +656,7 @@ private long getFailoverOrRetrySleepTime(int times) {
     @Override
     public RetryAction shouldRetry(Exception e, int retries,
         int failovers, boolean isIdempotentOrAtMostOnce) throws Exception {
-      if (failovers >= maxFailovers) {
+      if (failovers > maxFailovers) {
         return new RetryAction(RetryAction.RetryDecision.FAIL, 0,
             "failovers (" + failovers + ") exceeded maximum allowed ("
             + maxFailovers + ")");