diff --git a/src/nvim/search.c b/src/nvim/search.c
index 2a5b912133..28c0f42162 100644
--- a/src/nvim/search.c
+++ b/src/nvim/search.c
@@ -3021,6 +3021,11 @@ static int fuzzy_match_compute_score(const char *const fuzpat, const char *const
   // Apply unmatched penalty
   const int unmatched = strSz - numMatches;
   score += UNMATCHED_LETTER_PENALTY * unmatched;
+  // In a long string, not all matches may be found due to the recursion limit.
+  // If at least one match is found, reset the score to a non-negative value.
+  if (score < 0 && numMatches > 0) {
+    score = 0;
+  }
 
   // Apply ordering bonuses
   for (int i = 0; i < numMatches; i++) {
diff --git a/test/old/testdir/test_matchfuzzy.vim b/test/old/testdir/test_matchfuzzy.vim
index 10480f446d..5185db853a 100644
--- a/test/old/testdir/test_matchfuzzy.vim
+++ b/test/old/testdir/test_matchfuzzy.vim
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ func Test_matchfuzzypos()
   call assert_equal([[], [], []], matchfuzzypos([], 'abc'))
 
   " match in a long string
-  call assert_equal([[repeat('x', 300) .. 'abc'], [[300, 301, 302]], [-60]],
+  call assert_equal([[repeat('x', 300) .. 'abc'], [[300, 301, 302]], [155]],
         \ matchfuzzypos([repeat('x', 300) .. 'abc'], 'abc'))
 
   " preference for camel case match
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ func Test_matchfuzzypos_mbyte()
   call assert_equal([[], [], []], ['세 마리의 작은 돼지', '마리의', '마리의 작은', '작은 돼지']->matchfuzzypos('파란 하늘'))
 
   " match in a long string
-  call assert_equal([[repeat('ぶ', 300) .. 'ẼẼẼ'], [[300, 301, 302]], [-110]],
+  call assert_equal([[repeat('ぶ', 300) .. 'ẼẼẼ'], [[300, 301, 302]], [105]],
         \ matchfuzzypos([repeat('ぶ', 300) .. 'ẼẼẼ'], 'ẼẼẼ'))
   " preference for camel case match
   call assert_equal([['xѳѵҁxxѳѴҁ'], [[6, 7, 8]], [219]], matchfuzzypos(['xѳѵҁxxѳѴҁ'], 'ѳѵҁ'))