diff --git a/sys/kern/subr_acl_nfs4.c b/sys/kern/subr_acl_nfs4.c
index ce45be3210e9..ef378a0caaf7 100644
--- a/sys/kern/subr_acl_nfs4.c
+++ b/sys/kern/subr_acl_nfs4.c
@@ -162,6 +162,9 @@ _acl_denies(const struct acl *aclp, int access_mask, struct ucred *cred,
 			return (0);
 	}
 
+	if (access_mask == 0)
+		return (0);
+
 	return (1);
 }