diff --git a/include/linux/module.h b/include/linux/module.h
index ebfb0e153c6a..b653d7c0a05a 100644
--- a/include/linux/module.h
+++ b/include/linux/module.h
@@ -444,7 +444,7 @@ extern void __module_put_and_exit(struct module *mod, long code)
 #define module_put_and_exit(code) __module_put_and_exit(THIS_MODULE, code)
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_MODULE_UNLOAD
-unsigned long module_refcount(struct module *mod);
+int module_refcount(struct module *mod);
 void __symbol_put(const char *symbol);
 #define symbol_put(x) __symbol_put(VMLINUX_SYMBOL_STR(x))
 void symbol_put_addr(void *addr);
diff --git a/kernel/debug/kdb/kdb_main.c b/kernel/debug/kdb/kdb_main.c
index 379650b984f8..2934889f2cce 100644
--- a/kernel/debug/kdb/kdb_main.c
+++ b/kernel/debug/kdb/kdb_main.c
@@ -1979,7 +1979,7 @@ static int kdb_lsmod(int argc, const char **argv)
 		kdb_printf("%-20s%8u  0x%p ", mod->name,
 			   mod->core_size, (void *)mod);
 #ifdef CONFIG_MODULE_UNLOAD
-		kdb_printf("%4ld ", module_refcount(mod));
+		kdb_printf("%4d ", module_refcount(mod));
 #endif
 		if (mod->state == MODULE_STATE_GOING)
 			kdb_printf(" (Unloading)");
diff --git a/kernel/module.c b/kernel/module.c
index ed4ec9c30bd2..d856e96a3cce 100644
--- a/kernel/module.c
+++ b/kernel/module.c
@@ -772,9 +772,18 @@ static int try_stop_module(struct module *mod, int flags, int *forced)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-unsigned long module_refcount(struct module *mod)
+/**
+ * module_refcount - return the refcount or -1 if unloading
+ *
+ * @mod:	the module we're checking
+ *
+ * Returns:
+ *	-1 if the module is in the process of unloading
+ *	otherwise the number of references in the kernel to the module
+ */
+int module_refcount(struct module *mod)
 {
-	return (unsigned long)atomic_read(&mod->refcnt) - MODULE_REF_BASE;
+	return atomic_read(&mod->refcnt) - MODULE_REF_BASE;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(module_refcount);
 
@@ -856,7 +865,7 @@ static inline void print_unload_info(struct seq_file *m, struct module *mod)
 	struct module_use *use;
 	int printed_something = 0;
 
-	seq_printf(m, " %lu ", module_refcount(mod));
+	seq_printf(m, " %i ", module_refcount(mod));
 
 	/*
 	 * Always include a trailing , so userspace can differentiate
@@ -908,7 +917,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(symbol_put_addr);
 static ssize_t show_refcnt(struct module_attribute *mattr,
 			   struct module_kobject *mk, char *buffer)
 {
-	return sprintf(buffer, "%lu\n", module_refcount(mk->mod));
+	return sprintf(buffer, "%i\n", module_refcount(mk->mod));
 }
 
 static struct module_attribute modinfo_refcnt =