diff --git a/drivers/iio/industrialio-core.c b/drivers/iio/industrialio-core.c
index 17ec4cee51dc..a47428b4d31b 100644
--- a/drivers/iio/industrialio-core.c
+++ b/drivers/iio/industrialio-core.c
@@ -310,8 +310,10 @@ static ssize_t iio_debugfs_read_reg(struct file *file, char __user *userbuf,
 	ret = indio_dev->info->debugfs_reg_access(indio_dev,
 						  indio_dev->cached_reg_addr,
 						  0, &val);
-	if (ret)
+	if (ret) {
 		dev_err(indio_dev->dev.parent, "%s: read failed\n", __func__);
+		return ret;
+	}
 
 	len = snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "0x%X\n", val);