diff --git a/src/pcre2_jit_compile.c b/src/pcre2_jit_compile.c
index cdf3735..e013106 100644
--- a/src/pcre2_jit_compile.c
+++ b/src/pcre2_jit_compile.c
@@ -3360,7 +3360,7 @@ while (TRUE)
   {
   if (*rec_count == 0)
     return 0;
-  rec_count--;
+  (*rec_count)--;
 
   last = TRUE;
   any = FALSE;