diff --git a/internal/p2p/peermanager.go b/internal/p2p/peermanager.go
index 78d87e0e4..86160f81f 100644
--- a/internal/p2p/peermanager.go
+++ b/internal/p2p/peermanager.go
@@ -1562,6 +1562,10 @@ func (p *peerInfo) Score() PeerScore {
 		score -= int64(addr.DialFailures)
 	}
 
+	if score < math.MinInt16 {
+		score = math.MinInt16
+	}
+
 	return PeerScore(score)
 }