diff --git a/lib/wibox/hierarchy.lua b/lib/wibox/hierarchy.lua
index 6875eca83..e0da295ce 100644
--- a/lib/wibox/hierarchy.lua
+++ b/lib/wibox/hierarchy.lua
@@ -157,8 +157,8 @@ function hierarchy_update(self, context, widget, width, height, region, matrix_t
 
     -- Update widget counts
     self._widget_counts = {}
-    if widgets_to_count[self._widget] then
-        self._widget_counts[self._widget] = 1
+    if widgets_to_count[widget] and width > 0 and height > 0 then
+        self._widget_counts[widget] = 1
     end
     for _, h in ipairs(self._children) do
         for w, count in pairs(h._widget_counts) do
diff --git a/spec/wibox/hierarchy_spec.lua b/spec/wibox/hierarchy_spec.lua
index 7c64ecee2..6882a7426 100644
--- a/spec/wibox/hierarchy_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/wibox/hierarchy_spec.lua
@@ -272,7 +272,8 @@ describe("wibox.hierarchy", function()
                 make_child(child, 10, 20, matrix.identity)
             })
             parent = make_widget({
-                make_child(intermediate, 10, 20, matrix.identity)
+                make_child(intermediate, 10, 20, matrix.identity),
+                make_child(child, 0, 20, matrix.identity)
             })
             unrelated = make_widget(nil)