diff --git a/src/basic/audit-util.c b/src/basic/audit-util.c
index bf96e080d2..7f86f84fa3 100644
--- a/src/basic/audit-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/audit-util.c
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ static int try_audit_request(int fd) {
 
         n = recvmsg_safe(fd, &mh, 0);
         if (n < 0)
-                return -errno;
+                return n;
         if (n != NLMSG_LENGTH(sizeof(struct nlmsgerr)))
                 return -EIO;