diff --git a/src/libsystemd/sd-bus/bus-container.c b/src/libsystemd/sd-bus/bus-container.c
index 1159af46cd..17bbca7deb 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd/sd-bus/bus-container.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd/sd-bus/bus-container.c
@@ -75,8 +75,7 @@ int bus_container_connect_socket(sd_bus *b) {
         r = wait_for_terminate_and_check("(sd-buscntrns)", child, 0);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
-        if (r != EXIT_SUCCESS)
-                return -EPROTO;
+        bool nonzero_exit_status = r != EXIT_SUCCESS;
 
         n = read(pair[0], &error_buf, sizeof(error_buf));
         if (n < 0)
@@ -98,5 +97,8 @@ int bus_container_connect_socket(sd_bus *b) {
                         return log_debug_errno(error_buf, "Got error from (sd-buscntr): %m");
         }
 
+        if (nonzero_exit_status)
+                return -EPROTO;
+
         return bus_socket_start_auth(b);
 }