diff --git a/app/jobs/concerns/maintenance_tasks/task_job_concern.rb b/app/jobs/concerns/maintenance_tasks/task_job_concern.rb
index e228e0c6..497ee7bd 100644
--- a/app/jobs/concerns/maintenance_tasks/task_job_concern.rb
+++ b/app/jobs/concerns/maintenance_tasks/task_job_concern.rb
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ def before_perform
 
     def on_start
       count = @task.count
-      count = @collection_enum.size if count == :no_count
+      count = @collection_enum.size if count == NO_COUNT_DEFINED
       @run.start(count)
     end
 
diff --git a/app/models/maintenance_tasks/null_collection_builder.rb b/app/models/maintenance_tasks/null_collection_builder.rb
index 47098d25..3fb26b4d 100644
--- a/app/models/maintenance_tasks/null_collection_builder.rb
+++ b/app/models/maintenance_tasks/null_collection_builder.rb
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def collection(task)
     #
     # @return [Integer, nil]
     def count(task)
-      :no_count
+      NO_COUNT_DEFINED
     end
 
     # Return that the Task does not process CSV content.
diff --git a/lib/maintenance_tasks.rb b/lib/maintenance_tasks.rb
index 71b019d8..21a58b7f 100644
--- a/lib/maintenance_tasks.rb
+++ b/lib/maintenance_tasks.rb
@@ -145,6 +145,11 @@ module MaintenanceTasks
   #  @return [ActiveSupport::Duration, false] time interval after which a task is considered stale.
   mattr_accessor :task_staleness_threshold, default: 30.days
 
+  NO_COUNT_DEFINED = Object.new
+  NO_COUNT_DEFINED.define_singleton_method(:inspect) { "MaintenanceTasks::NO_COUNT_DEFINED" }
+  NO_COUNT_DEFINED.freeze
+  private_constant :NO_COUNT_DEFINED
+
   class << self
     DEPRECATION_MESSAGE = "MaintenanceTasks.error_handler is deprecated and will be removed in the 3.0 release. " \
       "Instead, reports will be sent to the Rails error reporter. Do not set a handler and subscribe " \
diff --git a/test/dummy/app/tasks/maintenance/test_task.rb b/test/dummy/app/tasks/maintenance/test_task.rb
index a89713eb..2f747bbe 100644
--- a/test/dummy/app/tasks/maintenance/test_task.rb
+++ b/test/dummy/app/tasks/maintenance/test_task.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ def collection
       [1, 2]
     end
 
+    def count
+      2
+    end
+
     def process(number)
       Rails.logger.debug("number: #{number}")
     end
diff --git a/test/models/maintenance_tasks/null_collection_builder_test.rb b/test/models/maintenance_tasks/null_collection_builder_test.rb
index bf5c07c2..56bd186c 100644
--- a/test/models/maintenance_tasks/null_collection_builder_test.rb
+++ b/test/models/maintenance_tasks/null_collection_builder_test.rb
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ class NullCollectionBuilderTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
     end
 
     test "count" do
-      assert_equal(:no_count, @builder.count(@task))
+      assert_equal(NO_COUNT_DEFINED, @builder.count(@task))
     end
 
     test "#has_csv_content?" do
diff --git a/test/models/maintenance_tasks/task_test.rb b/test/models/maintenance_tasks/task_test.rb
index 776a6e80..0ac8d2f5 100644
--- a/test/models/maintenance_tasks/task_test.rb
+++ b/test/models/maintenance_tasks/task_test.rb
@@ -75,12 +75,12 @@ class TaskTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
     end
 
     test ".count calls #count" do
-      assert_equal :no_count, Maintenance::TestTask.count
+      assert_equal 2, Maintenance::TestTask.count
     end
 
     test "#count is :no_count by default" do
       task = Task.new
-      assert_equal(:no_count, task.count)
+      assert_equal NO_COUNT_DEFINED, task.count
     end
 
     test "#collection raises NoMethodError" do