diff --git a/lib/mix/lib/mix/tasks/xref.ex b/lib/mix/lib/mix/tasks/xref.ex
index 40d3742fe0..591cb48cf7 100644
--- a/lib/mix/lib/mix/tasks/xref.ex
+++ b/lib/mix/lib/mix/tasks/xref.ex
@@ -1238,6 +1238,10 @@ defmodule Mix.Tasks.Xref do
           Mix.raise("--min-cycle-label requires the --label option to be given")
         end
 
+        if integer <= 0 do
+          Mix.raise("--min-cycle-label must be greater than 0")
+        end
+
         integer
       else
         1
diff --git a/lib/mix/test/mix/tasks/xref_test.exs b/lib/mix/test/mix/tasks/xref_test.exs
index a12b4c849e..ad7c9d6222 100644
--- a/lib/mix/test/mix/tasks/xref_test.exs
+++ b/lib/mix/test/mix/tasks/xref_test.exs
@@ -579,6 +579,12 @@ defmodule Mix.Tasks.XrefTest do
       """)
     end
 
+    test "bad min_cycle_label" do
+      assert_raise Mix.Error, "--min-cycle-label must be greater than 0", fn ->
+        assert_graph(["--format", "cycles", "--label", "compile", "--min-cycle-label", "0"], "")
+      end
+    end
+
     test "cycles with min_cycle_size greater than actual length" do
       assert_graph(["--format", "cycles", "--min-cycle-size", "3"], """
       No cycles found