diff --git a/Others/countwords.java b/Others/countwords.java
index 30806e13f..a93aa1a33 100644
--- a/Others/countwords.java
+++ b/Others/countwords.java
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ import java.util.Scanner;
 	  input.close();
         } 
 
-        public static int wordCount(String s){
-          if(s.isEmpty() || s == null) return -1;
+        private static int wordCount(String s){
+          if(s.isEmpty() || s == null) return 0;
           return s.trim().split("[\\s]+").length;
         }