diff --git a/src/shared/install.c b/src/shared/install.c
index 639372ae5b..ca8e7d2733 100644
--- a/src/shared/install.c
+++ b/src/shared/install.c
@@ -1986,7 +1986,9 @@ static int install_info_symlink_alias(
                 }
                 broken = r == 0; /* symlink target does not exist? */
 
-                RET_GATHER(ret, create_symlink(lp, alias_target ?: info->path, alias_path, force || broken, changes, n_changes));
+                r = create_symlink(lp, alias_target ?: info->path, alias_path, force || broken, changes, n_changes);
+                if (r != 0 && ret >= 0)
+                        ret = r;
         }
 
         return ret;
@@ -2080,7 +2082,7 @@ static int install_info_symlink_wants(
                         return -ENOMEM;
 
                 q = create_symlink(lp, info->path, path, /* force = */ true, changes, n_changes);
-                if ((q < 0 && r >= 0) || r == 0)
+                if (q != 0 && r >= 0)
                         r = q;
 
                 if (unit_file_exists(scope, lp, dst) == 0) {