diff --git a/src/craftdef.cpp b/src/craftdef.cpp
index cc0e83be7..bad0d393b 100644
--- a/src/craftdef.cpp
+++ b/src/craftdef.cpp
@@ -235,8 +235,8 @@ static void craftDecrementOrReplaceInput(CraftInput &input,
 				}
 			}
 		}
-		// No replacement was found, simply decrement count to zero
-		if (!found_replacement)
+		// No replacement was found, simply decrement count by one
+		if (!found_replacement && it->count > 0)
 			it->remove(1);
 	}
 }