diff --git a/src/hotspot/share/gc/epsilon/epsilonHeap.cpp b/src/hotspot/share/gc/epsilon/epsilonHeap.cpp
index 3907d904e2f..c44baa3cc04 100644
--- a/src/hotspot/share/gc/epsilon/epsilonHeap.cpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/gc/epsilon/epsilonHeap.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2023, 2024, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2017, 2022, Red Hat, Inc. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
@@ -124,14 +124,15 @@ HeapWord* EpsilonHeap::allocate_work(size_t size, bool verbose) {
       }
 
       // Expand and loop back if space is available
+      size_t size_in_bytes = size * HeapWordSize;
       size_t space_left = max_capacity() - capacity();
-      size_t want_space = MAX2(size, EpsilonMinHeapExpand);
+      size_t want_space = MAX2(size_in_bytes, EpsilonMinHeapExpand);
 
       if (want_space < space_left) {
         // Enough space to expand in bulk:
         bool expand = _virtual_space.expand_by(want_space);
         assert(expand, "Should be able to expand");
-      } else if (size < space_left) {
+      } else if (size_in_bytes < space_left) {
         // No space to expand in bulk, and this allocation is still possible,
         // take all the remaining space:
         bool expand = _virtual_space.expand_by(space_left);