diff --git a/control_plane/attachment_service/src/persistence.rs b/control_plane/attachment_service/src/persistence.rs
index cead54005804..623d6257676f 100644
--- a/control_plane/attachment_service/src/persistence.rs
+++ b/control_plane/attachment_service/src/persistence.rs
@@ -381,16 +381,22 @@ impl Persistence {
         self.with_conn(move |conn| -> DatabaseResult<()> {
             conn.transaction(|conn| -> DatabaseResult<()> {
                 // Mark parent shards as splitting
+
+                let expect_parent_records = std::cmp::max(1, old_shard_count.0);
+
                 let updated = diesel::update(tenant_shards)
                     .filter(tenant_id.eq(split_tenant_id.to_string()))
                     .filter(shard_count.eq(old_shard_count.0 as i32))
                     .set((splitting.eq(1),))
                     .execute(conn)?;
-                if ShardCount(updated.try_into().map_err(|_| DatabaseError::Logical(format!("Overflow existing shard count {} while splitting", updated)))?) != old_shard_count {
+                if u8::try_from(updated)
+                    .map_err(|_| DatabaseError::Logical(
+                        format!("Overflow existing shard count {} while splitting", updated))
+                    )? != expect_parent_records {
                     // Perhaps a deletion or another split raced with this attempt to split, mutating
                     // the parent shards that we intend to split. In this case the split request should fail.
                     return Err(DatabaseError::Logical(
-                        format!("Unexpected existing shard count {updated} when preparing tenant for split (expected {old_shard_count:?})")
+                        format!("Unexpected existing shard count {updated} when preparing tenant for split (expected {expect_parent_records})")
                     ));
                 }
 
diff --git a/test_runner/regress/test_sharding.py b/test_runner/regress/test_sharding.py
index 805eaa34b0fc..27d1cf2f3482 100644
--- a/test_runner/regress/test_sharding.py
+++ b/test_runner/regress/test_sharding.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     tenant_get_shards,
 )
 from fixtures.remote_storage import s3_storage
-from fixtures.types import TimelineId
+from fixtures.types import TenantShardId, TimelineId
 from fixtures.workload import Workload
 
 
@@ -84,6 +84,35 @@ def get_sizes():
         assert timelines == {env.initial_timeline, timeline_b}
 
 
+def test_sharding_split_unsharded(
+    neon_env_builder: NeonEnvBuilder,
+):
+    """
+    Test that shard splitting works on a tenant created as unsharded (i.e. with
+    ShardCount(0)).
+    """
+    env = neon_env_builder.init_start()
+    tenant_id = env.initial_tenant
+    timeline_id = env.initial_timeline
+
+    workload = Workload(env, tenant_id, timeline_id, branch_name="main")
+    workload.init()
+    workload.write_rows(256)
+
+    # Check that we created with an unsharded TenantShardId: this is the default,
+    # but check it in case we change the default in future
+    assert env.attachment_service.inspect(TenantShardId(tenant_id, 0, 0)) is not None
+
+    # Split one shard into two
+    env.attachment_service.tenant_shard_split(tenant_id, shard_count=2)
+
+    # Check we got the shard IDs we expected
+    assert env.attachment_service.inspect(TenantShardId(tenant_id, 0, 2)) is not None
+    assert env.attachment_service.inspect(TenantShardId(tenant_id, 1, 2)) is not None
+
+    workload.validate()
+
+
 def test_sharding_split_smoke(
     neon_env_builder: NeonEnvBuilder,
 ):