diff --git a/modules/charon-core/src/main/java/org/wso2/charon3/core/utils/ResourceManagerUtil.java b/modules/charon-core/src/main/java/org/wso2/charon3/core/utils/ResourceManagerUtil.java
index e09c2402d..6ba43b16f 100644
--- a/modules/charon-core/src/main/java/org/wso2/charon3/core/utils/ResourceManagerUtil.java
+++ b/modules/charon-core/src/main/java/org/wso2/charon3/core/utils/ResourceManagerUtil.java
@@ -404,9 +404,9 @@ public static Map<String, Boolean> getAllAttributeURIs(SCIMResourceTypeSchema sc
      */
     public static int processCount(String countStr) throws BadRequestException {
 
-        int count;
+        Integer count;
         if (countStr == null || countStr.trim().isEmpty() || !countStr.matches("\\d+")) {
-            count = CharonConfiguration.getInstance().getCountValueForPagination();
+            count = null;
         } else {
             try {
                 count = Integer.parseInt(countStr);
@@ -415,11 +415,7 @@ public static int processCount(String countStr) throws BadRequestException {
             }
         }
 
-        if (count < 0) {
-            count = 0;
-        }
-
-        return count;
+        return processCount(count);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -432,7 +428,7 @@ public static int processCount(String countStr) throws BadRequestException {
     public static Integer processCount(Integer countInt) {
 
         if (countInt == null || countInt.toString().isEmpty()) {
-            return null;
+            return CharonConfiguration.getInstance().getCountValueForPagination();
         } else {
             // All the negative values are interpreted as zero according to the specification.
             if (countInt <= 0) {
diff --git a/modules/charon-core/src/test/java/org/wso2/charon3/core/utils/ResourceManagerUtilTest.java b/modules/charon-core/src/test/java/org/wso2/charon3/core/utils/ResourceManagerUtilTest.java
index f6d688ab2..85e5f6bad 100644
--- a/modules/charon-core/src/test/java/org/wso2/charon3/core/utils/ResourceManagerUtilTest.java
+++ b/modules/charon-core/src/test/java/org/wso2/charon3/core/utils/ResourceManagerUtilTest.java
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ public Object[][] dataToProcessCountInteger() {
 
                 {20, 20},
                 {-1, 0},
-                {null, null}
+                {null, 0}
         };
     }