diff --git a/core/vdbe/execute.rs b/core/vdbe/execute.rs
index 928f7f94a..18f3ecf4f 100644
--- a/core/vdbe/execute.rs
+++ b/core/vdbe/execute.rs
@@ -4229,13 +4229,8 @@ pub fn op_page_count(
         // TODO: implement temp databases
         todo!("temp databases not implemented yet");
     }
-    // SQLite returns "0" on an empty database, and 2 on the first insertion,
-    // so we'll mimic that behavior.
-    let mut pages = pager.db_header.lock().database_size.into();
-    if pages == 1 {
-        pages = 0;
-    }
-    state.registers[*dest] = Register::OwnedValue(OwnedValue::Integer(pages));
+    let count = pager.db_header.lock().database_size.into();
+    state.registers[*dest] = Register::OwnedValue(OwnedValue::Integer(count));
     state.pc += 1;
     Ok(InsnFunctionStepResult::Step)
 }
diff --git a/testing/pragma.test b/testing/pragma.test
index c478c032c..29a460c65 100755
--- a/testing/pragma.test
+++ b/testing/pragma.test
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ do_execsql_test pragma-table-info-invalid-table {
 
 do_execsql_test_on_specific_db ":memory:" pragma-page-count-empty {
   PRAGMA page_count
-} {0}
+} {1}
 
 do_execsql_test_on_specific_db ":memory:" pragma-page-count-table {
   CREATE TABLE foo(bar);