diff --git a/include/spdk/bit_array.h b/include/spdk/bit_array.h
index a69047ff7c..37279dfc5f 100644
--- a/include/spdk/bit_array.h
+++ b/include/spdk/bit_array.h
@@ -151,9 +151,7 @@ uint32_t spdk_bit_array_find_first_set(const struct spdk_bit_array *ba, uint32_t
  * \param start_bit_index The bit index from which to start searching (0 to start
  * from the beginning of the array).
  *
- * \return the index of the first cleared bit. Bits beyond the current size of
- * the array are implicitly cleared, so if all bits within the current size are
- * set, this function will return the current number of bits + 1.
+ * \return the index of the first cleared bit. If no bits are cleared, returns UINT32_MAX.
  */
 uint32_t spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(const struct spdk_bit_array *ba, uint32_t start_bit_index);
 
diff --git a/lib/blob/blobstore.c b/lib/blob/blobstore.c
index 1c45b88ac5..3b29418026 100644
--- a/lib/blob/blobstore.c
+++ b/lib/blob/blobstore.c
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ _spdk_bs_allocate_cluster(struct spdk_blob *blob, uint32_t cluster_num,
 	pthread_mutex_lock(&blob->bs->used_clusters_mutex);
 	*lowest_free_cluster = spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(blob->bs->used_clusters,
 			       *lowest_free_cluster);
-	if (*lowest_free_cluster >= blob->bs->total_clusters) {
+	if (*lowest_free_cluster == UINT32_MAX) {
 		/* No more free clusters. Cannot satisfy the request */
 		pthread_mutex_unlock(&blob->bs->used_clusters_mutex);
 		return -ENOSPC;
@@ -1338,7 +1338,7 @@ _spdk_blob_resize(struct spdk_blob *blob, uint64_t sz)
 		lfc = 0;
 		for (i = num_clusters; i < sz; i++) {
 			lfc = spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(bs->used_clusters, lfc);
-			if (lfc >= bs->total_clusters) {
+			if (lfc == UINT32_MAX) {
 				/* No more free clusters. Cannot satisfy the request */
 				return -ENOSPC;
 			}
@@ -1421,7 +1421,7 @@ _spdk_blob_persist_start(struct spdk_blob_persist_ctx *ctx)
 	/* Note that this loop starts at one. The first page location is fixed by the blobid. */
 	for (i = 1; i < blob->active.num_pages; i++) {
 		page_num = spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(bs->used_md_pages, page_num);
-		if (page_num >= spdk_bit_array_capacity(bs->used_md_pages)) {
+		if (page_num == UINT32_MAX) {
 			_spdk_blob_persist_complete(seq, ctx, -ENOMEM);
 			return;
 		}
@@ -4106,7 +4106,7 @@ _spdk_bs_create_blob(struct spdk_blob_store *bs,
 	assert(spdk_get_thread() == bs->md_thread);
 
 	page_idx = spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(bs->used_md_pages, 0);
-	if (page_idx >= spdk_bit_array_capacity(bs->used_md_pages)) {
+	if (page_idx == UINT32_MAX) {
 		cb_fn(cb_arg, 0, -ENOMEM);
 		return;
 	}
@@ -4780,7 +4780,7 @@ _spdk_bs_inflate_blob_open_cpl(void *cb_arg, struct spdk_blob *_blob, int bserrn
 	for (i = 0; i < _blob->active.num_clusters; i++) {
 		if (_spdk_bs_cluster_needs_allocation(_blob, i, ctx->allocate_all)) {
 			lfc = spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(_blob->bs->used_clusters, lfc);
-			if (lfc >= _blob->bs->total_clusters) {
+			if (lfc == UINT32_MAX) {
 				/* No more free clusters. Cannot satisfy the request */
 				_spdk_bs_clone_snapshot_origblob_cleanup(ctx, -ENOSPC);
 				return;
diff --git a/lib/util/bit_array.c b/lib/util/bit_array.c
index 394b84bbb0..d6c112f79e 100644
--- a/lib/util/bit_array.c
+++ b/lib/util/bit_array.c
@@ -97,7 +97,11 @@ spdk_bit_array_resize(struct spdk_bit_array **bap, uint32_t num_bits)
 	uint32_t old_word_count, new_word_count;
 	size_t new_size;
 
-	if (!bap) {
+	/*
+	 * Max number of bits allowed is UINT32_MAX - 1, because we use UINT32_MAX to denote
+	 * when a set or cleared bit cannot be found.
+	 */
+	if (!bap || num_bits == UINT32_MAX) {
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
@@ -269,7 +273,19 @@ spdk_bit_array_find_first_set(const struct spdk_bit_array *ba, uint32_t start_bi
 uint32_t
 spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(const struct spdk_bit_array *ba, uint32_t start_bit_index)
 {
-	return _spdk_bit_array_find_first(ba, start_bit_index, SPDK_BIT_ARRAY_WORD_C(-1));
+	uint32_t bit_index;
+
+	bit_index = _spdk_bit_array_find_first(ba, start_bit_index, SPDK_BIT_ARRAY_WORD_C(-1));
+
+	/*
+	 * If we ran off the end of the array and found the 0 bit in the extra word,
+	 * return UINT32_MAX to indicate no actual 0 bits were found.
+	 */
+	if (bit_index >= ba->bit_count) {
+		bit_index = UINT32_MAX;
+	}
+
+	return bit_index;
 }
 
 uint32_t
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/util/bit_array.c/bit_array_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/util/bit_array.c/bit_array_ut.c
index 682ce37498..18d84b948b 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/util/bit_array.c/bit_array_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/util/bit_array.c/bit_array_ut.c
@@ -133,10 +133,10 @@ test_find(void)
 	/* Verify that find_first_set and find_first_clear work for each starting position */
 	for (i = 0; i < 256; i++) {
 		CU_ASSERT(spdk_bit_array_find_first_set(ba, i) == i);
-		CU_ASSERT(spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(ba, i) == 256);
+		CU_ASSERT(spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(ba, i) == UINT32_MAX);
 	}
 	CU_ASSERT(spdk_bit_array_find_first_set(ba, 256) == UINT32_MAX);
-	CU_ASSERT(spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(ba, 256) == 256);
+	CU_ASSERT(spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(ba, 256) == UINT32_MAX);
 
 	/* Clear bits 0 through 31 */
 	for (i = 0; i < 32; i++) {
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ test_find(void)
 
 	for (i = 32; i < 256; i++) {
 		CU_ASSERT(spdk_bit_array_find_first_set(ba, i) == i);
-		CU_ASSERT(spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(ba, i) == 256);
+		CU_ASSERT(spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(ba, i) == UINT32_MAX);
 	}
 
 	/* Clear bit 255 */
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ test_find(void)
 		CU_ASSERT(spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(ba, i) == 255);
 	}
 
-	CU_ASSERT(spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(ba, 256) == 256);
+	CU_ASSERT(spdk_bit_array_find_first_clear(ba, 256) == UINT32_MAX);
 
 	spdk_bit_array_free(&ba);
 }