diff --git a/bids-validator/src/summary/summary.ts b/bids-validator/src/summary/summary.ts
index 1112079ab..62622a437 100644
--- a/bids-validator/src/summary/summary.ts
+++ b/bids-validator/src/summary/summary.ts
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ export class Summary {
   schemaVersion: string
   constructor() {
     this.dataProcessed = false
-    this.totalFiles = -1
+    this.totalFiles = 0
     this.size = 0
     this.sessions = new Set()
     this.subjects = new Set()