diff --git a/control_plane/attachment_service/src/compute_hook.rs b/control_plane/attachment_service/src/compute_hook.rs
index 5bd1b6bf09..bac378d218 100644
--- a/control_plane/attachment_service/src/compute_hook.rs
+++ b/control_plane/attachment_service/src/compute_hook.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use std::{collections::HashMap, time::Duration};
 use control_plane::endpoint::{ComputeControlPlane, EndpointStatus};
 use control_plane::local_env::LocalEnv;
 use hyper::{Method, StatusCode};
-use pageserver_api::shard::{ShardCount, ShardIndex, ShardNumber, TenantShardId};
+use pageserver_api::shard::{ShardIndex, ShardNumber, TenantShardId};
 use postgres_connection::parse_host_port;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use tokio_util::sync::CancellationToken;
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ impl ComputeHookTenant {
         self.shards
             .sort_by_key(|(shard, _node_id)| shard.shard_number);
 
-        if self.shards.len() == shard_count.0 as usize || shard_count == ShardCount(0) {
+        if self.shards.len() == shard_count.count() as usize || shard_count.is_unsharded() {
             // We have pageservers for all the shards: emit a configuration update
             return Some(ComputeHookNotifyRequest {
                 tenant_id,
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ impl ComputeHookTenant {
             tracing::info!(
                 "ComputeHookTenant::maybe_reconfigure: not enough shards ({}/{})",
                 self.shards.len(),
-                shard_count.0
+                shard_count.count()
             );
         }
 
diff --git a/control_plane/attachment_service/src/persistence.rs b/control_plane/attachment_service/src/persistence.rs
index 5b3b032bc9..c5829cae88 100644
--- a/control_plane/attachment_service/src/persistence.rs
+++ b/control_plane/attachment_service/src/persistence.rs
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ impl Persistence {
             let tenant_shard_id = TenantShardId {
                 tenant_id: TenantId::from_str(tsp.tenant_id.as_str())?,
                 shard_number: ShardNumber(tsp.shard_number as u8),
-                shard_count: ShardCount(tsp.shard_count as u8),
+                shard_count: ShardCount::new(tsp.shard_count as u8),
             };
 
             tenants_map.insert(tenant_shard_id, tsp);
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ impl Persistence {
                 tenant_id: TenantId::from_str(tsp.tenant_id.as_str())
                     .map_err(|e| DatabaseError::Logical(format!("Malformed tenant id: {e}")))?,
                 shard_number: ShardNumber(tsp.shard_number as u8),
-                shard_count: ShardCount(tsp.shard_count as u8),
+                shard_count: ShardCount::new(tsp.shard_count as u8),
             };
             result.insert(tenant_shard_id, Generation::new(tsp.generation as u32));
         }
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ impl Persistence {
                 let updated = diesel::update(tenant_shards)
                     .filter(tenant_id.eq(tenant_shard_id.tenant_id.to_string()))
                     .filter(shard_number.eq(tenant_shard_id.shard_number.0 as i32))
-                    .filter(shard_count.eq(tenant_shard_id.shard_count.0 as i32))
+                    .filter(shard_count.eq(tenant_shard_id.shard_count.literal() as i32))
                     .set((
                         generation.eq(generation + 1),
                         generation_pageserver.eq(node_id.0 as i64),
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ impl Persistence {
             let updated = diesel::update(tenant_shards)
                 .filter(tenant_id.eq(tenant_shard_id.tenant_id.to_string()))
                 .filter(shard_number.eq(tenant_shard_id.shard_number.0 as i32))
-                .filter(shard_count.eq(tenant_shard_id.shard_count.0 as i32))
+                .filter(shard_count.eq(tenant_shard_id.shard_count.literal() as i32))
                 .set((
                     generation_pageserver.eq(i64::MAX),
                     placement_policy.eq(serde_json::to_string(&PlacementPolicy::Detached).unwrap()),
@@ -392,21 +392,19 @@ impl Persistence {
             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))
+                    .filter(shard_count.eq(old_shard_count.literal() as i32))
                     .set((splitting.eq(1),))
                     .execute(conn)?;
                 if u8::try_from(updated)
                     .map_err(|_| DatabaseError::Logical(
                         format!("Overflow existing shard count {} while splitting", updated))
-                    )? != expect_parent_records {
+                    )? != old_shard_count.count() {
                     // 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 {expect_parent_records})")
+                        format!("Unexpected existing shard count {updated} when preparing tenant for split (expected {})", old_shard_count.count())
                     ));
                 }
 
@@ -418,7 +416,7 @@ impl Persistence {
                     let mut parent = crate::schema::tenant_shards::table
                         .filter(tenant_id.eq(parent_shard_id.tenant_id.to_string()))
                         .filter(shard_number.eq(parent_shard_id.shard_number.0 as i32))
-                        .filter(shard_count.eq(parent_shard_id.shard_count.0 as i32))
+                        .filter(shard_count.eq(parent_shard_id.shard_count.literal() as i32))
                         .load::<TenantShardPersistence>(conn)?;
                     let parent = if parent.len() != 1 {
                         return Err(DatabaseError::Logical(format!(
@@ -459,7 +457,7 @@ impl Persistence {
                 // Drop parent shards
                 diesel::delete(tenant_shards)
                     .filter(tenant_id.eq(split_tenant_id.to_string()))
-                    .filter(shard_count.eq(old_shard_count.0 as i32))
+                    .filter(shard_count.eq(old_shard_count.literal() as i32))
                     .execute(conn)?;
 
                 // Clear sharding flag
diff --git a/control_plane/attachment_service/src/reconciler.rs b/control_plane/attachment_service/src/reconciler.rs
index 776e1f9d1e..65bbfa7181 100644
--- a/control_plane/attachment_service/src/reconciler.rs
+++ b/control_plane/attachment_service/src/reconciler.rs
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ impl Reconciler {
                 secondary_conf,
                 tenant_conf: config.clone(),
                 shard_number: shard.number.0,
-                shard_count: shard.count.0,
+                shard_count: shard.count.literal(),
                 shard_stripe_size: shard.stripe_size.0,
             }
         }
@@ -458,7 +458,7 @@ impl Reconciler {
                     generation: None,
                     secondary_conf: None,
                     shard_number: self.shard.number.0,
-                    shard_count: self.shard.count.0,
+                    shard_count: self.shard.count.literal(),
                     shard_stripe_size: self.shard.stripe_size.0,
                     tenant_conf: self.config.clone(),
                 },
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ pub(crate) fn attached_location_conf(
         generation: generation.into(),
         secondary_conf: None,
         shard_number: shard.number.0,
-        shard_count: shard.count.0,
+        shard_count: shard.count.literal(),
         shard_stripe_size: shard.stripe_size.0,
         tenant_conf: config.clone(),
     }
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ pub(crate) fn secondary_location_conf(
         generation: None,
         secondary_conf: Some(LocationConfigSecondary { warm: true }),
         shard_number: shard.number.0,
-        shard_count: shard.count.0,
+        shard_count: shard.count.literal(),
         shard_stripe_size: shard.stripe_size.0,
         tenant_conf: config.clone(),
     }
diff --git a/control_plane/attachment_service/src/service.rs b/control_plane/attachment_service/src/service.rs
index 95efa8ecd7..616b74e55d 100644
--- a/control_plane/attachment_service/src/service.rs
+++ b/control_plane/attachment_service/src/service.rs
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ impl Service {
                         generation: None,
                         secondary_conf: None,
                         shard_number: tenant_shard_id.shard_number.0,
-                        shard_count: tenant_shard_id.shard_count.0,
+                        shard_count: tenant_shard_id.shard_count.literal(),
                         shard_stripe_size: 0,
                         tenant_conf: models::TenantConfig::default(),
                     },
@@ -389,14 +389,14 @@ impl Service {
             let tenant_shard_id = TenantShardId {
                 tenant_id: TenantId::from_str(tsp.tenant_id.as_str())?,
                 shard_number: ShardNumber(tsp.shard_number as u8),
-                shard_count: ShardCount(tsp.shard_count as u8),
+                shard_count: ShardCount::new(tsp.shard_count as u8),
             };
             let shard_identity = if tsp.shard_count == 0 {
                 ShardIdentity::unsharded()
             } else {
                 ShardIdentity::new(
                     ShardNumber(tsp.shard_number as u8),
-                    ShardCount(tsp.shard_count as u8),
+                    ShardCount::new(tsp.shard_count as u8),
                     ShardStripeSize(tsp.shard_stripe_size as u32),
                 )?
             };
@@ -526,7 +526,7 @@ impl Service {
             let tsp = TenantShardPersistence {
                 tenant_id: attach_req.tenant_shard_id.tenant_id.to_string(),
                 shard_number: attach_req.tenant_shard_id.shard_number.0 as i32,
-                shard_count: attach_req.tenant_shard_id.shard_count.0 as i32,
+                shard_count: attach_req.tenant_shard_id.shard_count.literal() as i32,
                 shard_stripe_size: 0,
                 generation: 0,
                 generation_pageserver: i64::MAX,
@@ -726,16 +726,9 @@ impl Service {
         &self,
         create_req: TenantCreateRequest,
     ) -> Result<TenantCreateResponse, ApiError> {
-        // Shard count 0 is valid: it means create a single shard (ShardCount(0) means "unsharded")
-        let literal_shard_count = if create_req.shard_parameters.is_unsharded() {
-            1
-        } else {
-            create_req.shard_parameters.count.0
-        };
-
         // This service expects to handle sharding itself: it is an error to try and directly create
         // a particular shard here.
-        let tenant_id = if create_req.new_tenant_id.shard_count > ShardCount(1) {
+        let tenant_id = if !create_req.new_tenant_id.is_unsharded() {
             return Err(ApiError::BadRequest(anyhow::anyhow!(
                 "Attempted to create a specific shard, this API is for creating the whole tenant"
             )));
@@ -749,7 +742,7 @@ impl Service {
             create_req.shard_parameters.count,
         );
 
-        let create_ids = (0..literal_shard_count)
+        let create_ids = (0..create_req.shard_parameters.count.count())
             .map(|i| TenantShardId {
                 tenant_id,
                 shard_number: ShardNumber(i),
@@ -769,7 +762,7 @@ impl Service {
             .map(|tenant_shard_id| TenantShardPersistence {
                 tenant_id: tenant_shard_id.tenant_id.to_string(),
                 shard_number: tenant_shard_id.shard_number.0 as i32,
-                shard_count: tenant_shard_id.shard_count.0 as i32,
+                shard_count: tenant_shard_id.shard_count.literal() as i32,
                 shard_stripe_size: create_req.shard_parameters.stripe_size.0 as i32,
                 generation: create_req.generation.map(|g| g as i32).unwrap_or(0),
                 generation_pageserver: i64::MAX,
@@ -914,7 +907,7 @@ impl Service {
         tenant_id: TenantId,
         req: TenantLocationConfigRequest,
     ) -> Result<TenantLocationConfigResponse, ApiError> {
-        if req.tenant_id.shard_count.0 > 1 {
+        if !req.tenant_id.is_unsharded() {
             return Err(ApiError::BadRequest(anyhow::anyhow!(
                 "This API is for importing single-sharded or unsharded tenants"
             )));
@@ -1449,7 +1442,7 @@ impl Service {
             for (tenant_shard_id, shard) in
                 locked.tenants.range(TenantShardId::tenant_range(tenant_id))
             {
-                match shard.shard.count.0.cmp(&split_req.new_shard_count) {
+                match shard.shard.count.count().cmp(&split_req.new_shard_count) {
                     Ordering::Equal => {
                         //  Already split this
                         children_found.push(*tenant_shard_id);
@@ -1459,7 +1452,7 @@ impl Service {
                         return Err(ApiError::BadRequest(anyhow::anyhow!(
                             "Requested count {} but already have shards at count {}",
                             split_req.new_shard_count,
-                            shard.shard.count.0
+                            shard.shard.count.count()
                         )));
                     }
                     Ordering::Less => {
@@ -1489,7 +1482,7 @@ impl Service {
                     shard_ident = Some(shard.shard);
                 }
 
-                if tenant_shard_id.shard_count == ShardCount(split_req.new_shard_count) {
+                if tenant_shard_id.shard_count.count() == split_req.new_shard_count {
                     tracing::info!(
                         "Tenant shard {} already has shard count {}",
                         tenant_shard_id,
@@ -1515,7 +1508,7 @@ impl Service {
                 targets.push(SplitTarget {
                     parent_id: *tenant_shard_id,
                     node: node.clone(),
-                    child_ids: tenant_shard_id.split(ShardCount(split_req.new_shard_count)),
+                    child_ids: tenant_shard_id.split(ShardCount::new(split_req.new_shard_count)),
                 });
             }
 
@@ -1562,7 +1555,7 @@ impl Service {
                 this_child_tsps.push(TenantShardPersistence {
                     tenant_id: child.tenant_id.to_string(),
                     shard_number: child.shard_number.0 as i32,
-                    shard_count: child.shard_count.0 as i32,
+                    shard_count: child.shard_count.literal() as i32,
                     shard_stripe_size: shard_ident.stripe_size.0 as i32,
                     // Note: this generation is a placeholder, [`Persistence::begin_shard_split`] will
                     // populate the correct generation as part of its transaction, to protect us
diff --git a/control_plane/src/bin/neon_local.rs b/control_plane/src/bin/neon_local.rs
index d71cdf02c0..a155e9ebb2 100644
--- a/control_plane/src/bin/neon_local.rs
+++ b/control_plane/src/bin/neon_local.rs
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ async fn handle_tenant(
                     new_tenant_id: TenantShardId::unsharded(tenant_id),
                     generation: None,
                     shard_parameters: ShardParameters {
-                        count: ShardCount(shard_count),
+                        count: ShardCount::new(shard_count),
                         stripe_size: shard_stripe_size
                             .map(ShardStripeSize)
                             .unwrap_or(ShardParameters::DEFAULT_STRIPE_SIZE),
diff --git a/libs/pageserver_api/src/models.rs b/libs/pageserver_api/src/models.rs
index 1226eaa312..db2292072c 100644
--- a/libs/pageserver_api/src/models.rs
+++ b/libs/pageserver_api/src/models.rs
@@ -214,14 +214,14 @@ impl ShardParameters {
     pub const DEFAULT_STRIPE_SIZE: ShardStripeSize = ShardStripeSize(256 * 1024 / 8);
 
     pub fn is_unsharded(&self) -> bool {
-        self.count == ShardCount(0)
+        self.count.is_unsharded()
     }
 }
 
 impl Default for ShardParameters {
     fn default() -> Self {
         Self {
-            count: ShardCount(0),
+            count: ShardCount::new(0),
             stripe_size: Self::DEFAULT_STRIPE_SIZE,
         }
     }
diff --git a/libs/pageserver_api/src/shard.rs b/libs/pageserver_api/src/shard.rs
index 322b6c642e..a50ac74af1 100644
--- a/libs/pageserver_api/src/shard.rs
+++ b/libs/pageserver_api/src/shard.rs
@@ -13,10 +13,41 @@ use utils::id::TenantId;
 pub struct ShardNumber(pub u8);
 
 #[derive(Ord, PartialOrd, Eq, PartialEq, Clone, Copy, Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, Hash)]
-pub struct ShardCount(pub u8);
+pub struct ShardCount(u8);
 
 impl ShardCount {
     pub const MAX: Self = Self(u8::MAX);
+
+    /// The internal value of a ShardCount may be zero, which means "1 shard, but use
+    /// legacy format for TenantShardId that excludes the shard suffix", also known
+    /// as `TenantShardId::unsharded`.
+    ///
+    /// This method returns the actual number of shards, i.e. if our internal value is
+    /// zero, we return 1 (unsharded tenants have 1 shard).
+    pub fn count(&self) -> u8 {
+        if self.0 > 0 {
+            self.0
+        } else {
+            1
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The literal internal value: this is **not** the number of shards in the
+    /// tenant, as we have a special zero value for legacy unsharded tenants.  Use
+    /// [`Self::count`] if you want to know the cardinality of shards.
+    pub fn literal(&self) -> u8 {
+        self.0
+    }
+
+    pub fn is_unsharded(&self) -> bool {
+        self.0 == 0
+    }
+
+    /// `v` may be zero, or the number of shards in the tenant.  `v` is what
+    /// [`Self::literal`] would return.
+    pub fn new(val: u8) -> Self {
+        Self(val)
+    }
 }
 
 impl ShardNumber {
@@ -86,7 +117,7 @@ impl TenantShardId {
     }
 
     pub fn is_unsharded(&self) -> bool {
-        self.shard_number == ShardNumber(0) && self.shard_count == ShardCount(0)
+        self.shard_number == ShardNumber(0) && self.shard_count.is_unsharded()
     }
 
     /// Convenience for dropping the tenant_id and just getting the ShardIndex: this
diff --git a/pageserver/src/http/routes.rs b/pageserver/src/http/routes.rs
index df3794f222..10ca96a2c1 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/http/routes.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/http/routes.rs
@@ -1136,7 +1136,7 @@ async fn tenant_shard_split_handler(
 
     let new_shards = state
         .tenant_manager
-        .shard_split(tenant_shard_id, ShardCount(req.new_shard_count), &ctx)
+        .shard_split(tenant_shard_id, ShardCount::new(req.new_shard_count), &ctx)
         .await
         .map_err(ApiError::InternalServerError)?;
 
diff --git a/pageserver/src/page_service.rs b/pageserver/src/page_service.rs
index 7b660b5eca..11eb512750 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/page_service.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/page_service.rs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ use pageserver_api::models::{
     PagestreamNblocksResponse,
 };
 use pageserver_api::shard::ShardIndex;
-use pageserver_api::shard::{ShardCount, ShardNumber};
+use pageserver_api::shard::ShardNumber;
 use postgres_backend::{self, is_expected_io_error, AuthType, PostgresBackend, QueryError};
 use pq_proto::framed::ConnectionError;
 use pq_proto::FeStartupPacket;
@@ -998,7 +998,7 @@ impl PageServerHandler {
     ) -> Result<&Arc<Timeline>, Key> {
         let key = if let Some((first_idx, first_timeline)) = self.shard_timelines.iter().next() {
             // Fastest path: single sharded case
-            if first_idx.shard_count < ShardCount(2) {
+            if first_idx.shard_count.count() == 1 {
                 return Ok(&first_timeline.timeline);
             }
 
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant.rs
index ced4bb5af4..25d13a01ac 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant.rs
@@ -2370,7 +2370,7 @@ impl Tenant {
             generation: self.generation.into(),
             secondary_conf: None,
             shard_number: self.shard_identity.number.0,
-            shard_count: self.shard_identity.count.0,
+            shard_count: self.shard_identity.count.literal(),
             shard_stripe_size: self.shard_identity.stripe_size.0,
             tenant_conf: tenant_config,
         }
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/config.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/config.rs
index 563887088d..961decd247 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/config.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/config.rs
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ impl LocationConf {
         } else {
             ShardIdentity::new(
                 ShardNumber(conf.shard_number),
-                ShardCount(conf.shard_count),
+                ShardCount::new(conf.shard_count),
                 ShardStripeSize(conf.shard_stripe_size),
             )?
         };
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/mgr.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/mgr.rs
index 7260080720..90c442464f 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/mgr.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/mgr.rs
@@ -794,7 +794,7 @@ pub(crate) async fn set_new_tenant_config(
     info!("configuring tenant {tenant_id}");
     let tenant = get_tenant(tenant_shard_id, true)?;
 
-    if tenant.tenant_shard_id().shard_count > ShardCount(0) {
+    if !tenant.tenant_shard_id().shard_count.is_unsharded() {
         // Note that we use ShardParameters::default below.
         return Err(SetNewTenantConfigError::Other(anyhow::anyhow!(
             "This API may only be used on single-sharded tenants, use the /location_config API for sharded tenants"
@@ -1376,7 +1376,7 @@ impl TenantManager {
         result
     }
 
-    #[instrument(skip_all, fields(tenant_id=%tenant_shard_id.tenant_id, shard_id=%tenant_shard_id.shard_slug(), new_shard_count=%new_shard_count.0))]
+    #[instrument(skip_all, fields(tenant_id=%tenant_shard_id.tenant_id, shard_id=%tenant_shard_id.shard_slug(), new_shard_count=%new_shard_count.literal()))]
     pub(crate) async fn shard_split(
         &self,
         tenant_shard_id: TenantShardId,
@@ -1386,11 +1386,10 @@ impl TenantManager {
         let tenant = get_tenant(tenant_shard_id, true)?;
 
         // Plan: identify what the new child shards will be
-        let effective_old_shard_count = std::cmp::max(tenant_shard_id.shard_count.0, 1);
-        if new_shard_count <= ShardCount(effective_old_shard_count) {
+        if new_shard_count.count() <= tenant_shard_id.shard_count.count() {
             anyhow::bail!("Requested shard count is not an increase");
         }
-        let expansion_factor = new_shard_count.0 / effective_old_shard_count;
+        let expansion_factor = new_shard_count.count() / tenant_shard_id.shard_count.count();
         if !expansion_factor.is_power_of_two() {
             anyhow::bail!("Requested split is not a power of two");
         }
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/secondary.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/secondary.rs
index 926cd0302b..2c8ced4eb7 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/secondary.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/secondary.rs
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ impl SecondaryTenant {
             generation: None,
             secondary_conf: Some(conf),
             shard_number: self.tenant_shard_id.shard_number.0,
-            shard_count: self.tenant_shard_id.shard_count.0,
+            shard_count: self.tenant_shard_id.shard_count.literal(),
             shard_stripe_size: self.shard_identity.stripe_size.0,
             tenant_conf: tenant_conf.into(),
         }