diff --git a/src/uu/truncate/src/truncate.rs b/src/uu/truncate/src/truncate.rs
index df42d7f66..42bd42ab5 100644
--- a/src/uu/truncate/src/truncate.rs
+++ b/src/uu/truncate/src/truncate.rs
@@ -31,18 +31,38 @@ impl TruncateMode {
     ///
     /// `fsize` is the size of the reference file, in bytes.
     ///
+    /// If the mode is [`TruncateMode::Reduce`] and the value to
+    /// reduce by is greater than `fsize`, then this function returns
+    /// 0 (since it cannot return a negative number).
+    ///
     /// # Examples
     ///
+    /// Extending a file of 10 bytes by 5 bytes:
+    ///
     /// ```rust,ignore
     /// let mode = TruncateMode::Extend(5);
     /// let fsize = 10;
     /// assert_eq!(mode.to_size(fsize), 15);
     /// ```
+    ///
+    /// Reducing a file by more than its size results in 0:
+    ///
+    /// ```rust,ignore
+    /// let mode = TruncateMode::Reduce(5);
+    /// let fsize = 3;
+    /// assert_eq!(mode.to_size(fsize), 0);
+    /// ```
     fn to_size(&self, fsize: usize) -> usize {
         match self {
             TruncateMode::Absolute(size) => *size,
             TruncateMode::Extend(size) => fsize + size,
-            TruncateMode::Reduce(size) => fsize - size,
+            TruncateMode::Reduce(size) => {
+                if *size > fsize {
+                    0
+                } else {
+                    fsize - size
+                }
+            }
             TruncateMode::AtMost(size) => fsize.min(*size),
             TruncateMode::AtLeast(size) => fsize.max(*size),
             TruncateMode::RoundDown(size) => fsize - fsize % size,
@@ -377,4 +397,11 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(parse_mode_and_size("/10"), Ok(TruncateMode::RoundDown(10)));
         assert_eq!(parse_mode_and_size("%10"), Ok(TruncateMode::RoundUp(10)));
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_to_size() {
+        assert_eq!(TruncateMode::Extend(5).to_size(10), 15);
+        assert_eq!(TruncateMode::Reduce(5).to_size(10), 5);
+        assert_eq!(TruncateMode::Reduce(5).to_size(3), 0);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_truncate.rs b/tests/by-util/test_truncate.rs
index 135c55456..801951548 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_truncate.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_truncate.rs
@@ -377,3 +377,15 @@ fn test_division_by_zero_reference_and_size() {
         .no_stdout()
         .stderr_contains("division by zero");
 }
+
+/// Test that truncate with a relative size less than 0 is not an error.
+#[test]
+fn test_underflow_relative_size() {
+    let (at, mut ucmd) = at_and_ucmd!();
+    ucmd.args(&["-s-1", FILE1])
+        .succeeds()
+        .no_stdout()
+        .no_stderr();
+    assert!(at.file_exists(FILE1));
+    assert!(at.read_bytes(FILE1).is_empty());
+}