diff --git a/src/basic/fileio.c b/src/basic/fileio.c
index febda0abfd..66e1273458 100644
--- a/src/basic/fileio.c
+++ b/src/basic/fileio.c
@@ -746,11 +746,9 @@ int read_line_full(FILE *f, size_t limit, ReadLineFlags flags, char **ret) {
                         r = safe_fgetc(f, &c);
                         if (r < 0)
                                 return r;
-                        if (r == 0)
+                        if (r == 0) /* EOF is definitely EOL */
                                 break;
 
-                        count++;
-
                         eol = categorize_eol(c, flags);
 
                         if (FLAGS_SET(previous_eol, EOL_ZERO) ||
@@ -760,10 +758,11 @@ int read_line_full(FILE *f, size_t limit, ReadLineFlags flags, char **ret) {
                                  * EOL marker has been seen right before? In either of these three cases we are
                                  * done. But first, let's put this character back in the queue. */
                                 assert_se(ungetc(c, f) != EOF);
-                                count--;
                                 break;
                         }
 
+                        count++;
+
                         if (eol != EOL_NONE) {
                                 previous_eol |= eol;
                                 continue;