diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py
index ddc1131843..6a18db0f58 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/instagram.py
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ def _parse_post_rest(self, post):
             data = {
                 "post_id" : post["pk"],
                 "post_shortcode": post["code"],
-                "likes": post.get("like_count"),
+                "likes": post.get("like_count", 0),
                 "pinned": post.get("timeline_pinned_user_ids", ()),
                 "date": text.parse_timestamp(post.get("taken_at")),
             }