diff --git a/fs/afs/addr_prefs.c b/fs/afs/addr_prefs.c
index a189ff8a5034..c0384201b8fe 100644
--- a/fs/afs/addr_prefs.c
+++ b/fs/afs/addr_prefs.c
@@ -413,8 +413,10 @@ int afs_proc_addr_prefs_write(struct file *file, char *buf, size_t size)
 
 	do {
 		argc = afs_split_string(&buf, argv, ARRAY_SIZE(argv));
-		if (argc < 0)
-			return argc;
+		if (argc < 0) {
+			ret = argc;
+			goto done;
+		}
 		if (argc < 2)
 			goto inval;