diff --git a/dax/controller/client/client.go b/dax/controller/client/client.go
index 1b95ee8ce..3636a60db 100644
--- a/dax/controller/client/client.go
+++ b/dax/controller/client/client.go
@@ -708,18 +708,18 @@ func (c *Client) GetDatabaseWorkerCount(ctx context.Context, orgID string, datab
 
 	resp, err := c.httpClient.Get(url)
 	if err != nil {
-		return -1, errors.Wrap(err, "getting database-worker-count")
+		return 0, errors.Wrap(err, "getting database-worker-count")
 	}
 	defer resp.Body.Close()
 
 	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
 		b, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
-		return -1, errors.Errorf("status code: %d: %s", resp.StatusCode, b)
+		return 0, errors.Errorf("status code: %d: %s", resp.StatusCode, b)
 	}
 
 	var workers int
 	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&workers); err != nil {
-		return -1, errors.Wrap(err, "reading response body")
+		return 0, errors.Wrap(err, "reading response body")
 	}
 
 	return workers, nil
diff --git a/dax/controller/controller.go b/dax/controller/controller.go
index fc760133e..6efd9147a 100644
--- a/dax/controller/controller.go
+++ b/dax/controller/controller.go
@@ -789,7 +789,7 @@ func (c *Controller) WorkerCount(ctx context.Context, qdbid dax.QualifiedDatabas
 
 	tx, err := c.Transactor.BeginTx(ctx, false)
 	if err != nil {
-		return -1, errors.Wrap(err, "beginning tx")
+		return 0, errors.Wrap(err, "beginning tx")
 	}
 	defer tx.Rollback()
 
diff --git a/dax/controller/sqldb/workerjob.go b/dax/controller/sqldb/workerjob.go
index 7acb6dab8..c2994724e 100644
--- a/dax/controller/sqldb/workerjob.go
+++ b/dax/controller/sqldb/workerjob.go
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ func jobsForWorker(dt *DaxTransaction, worker *models.Worker, roleType dax.RoleT
 func (w *workerJobService) WorkerCount(tx dax.Transaction, roleType dax.RoleType, qdbid dax.QualifiedDatabaseID) (int, error) {
 	dt, ok := tx.(*DaxTransaction)
 	if !ok {
-		return -1, dax.NewErrInvalidTransaction("*sqldb.DaxTransaction")
+		return 0, dax.NewErrInvalidTransaction("*sqldb.DaxTransaction")
 	}
 
 	worker := &models.Worker{}