diff --git a/gcc/cp/ChangeLog b/gcc/cp/ChangeLog
index eb6cb4faf02..2007959dee3 100644
--- a/gcc/cp/ChangeLog
+++ b/gcc/cp/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2004-12-17  Steven Bosscher  <stevenb@suse.de>
+
+	* init.c (build_zero_init): max_index is the number of
+	elements, minus 1.
+
 2004-12-17  Nathan Sidwell  <nathan@codesourcery.com>
 
 	PR c++/18721
diff --git a/gcc/cp/init.c b/gcc/cp/init.c
index 90b84eb6a45..2bff006d591 100644
--- a/gcc/cp/init.c
+++ b/gcc/cp/init.c
@@ -221,7 +221,11 @@ build_zero_init (tree type, tree nelts, bool static_storage_p)
       init = build_constructor (type, NULL_TREE);
       /* Iterate over the array elements, building initializations.  */
       inits = NULL_TREE;
-      max_index = nelts ? nelts : array_type_nelts (type);
+      if (nelts)
+	max_index = fold (build2 (MINUS_EXPR, TREE_TYPE (nelts),
+				  nelts, integer_one_node));
+      else
+	max_index = array_type_nelts (type);
       gcc_assert (TREE_CODE (max_index) == INTEGER_CST);
 
       /* A zero-sized array, which is accepted as an extension, will