diff --git a/src/shared/copy.c b/src/shared/copy.c
index db26945be8..241a2d112b 100644
--- a/src/shared/copy.c
+++ b/src/shared/copy.c
@@ -1084,6 +1084,9 @@ finish:
                         return -errno;
         }
 
+        if (r < 0)
+                return r;
+
         return copy_flags & COPY_LOCK_BSD ? TAKE_FD(fdt) : 0;
 }
 
@@ -1133,8 +1136,11 @@ static int fd_copy_tree_generic(
                 copy_progress_path_t progress_path,
                 copy_progress_bytes_t progress_bytes,
                 void *userdata) {
+
         int r;
 
+        assert(!FLAGS_SET(copy_flags, COPY_LOCK_BSD));
+
         if (S_ISDIR(st->st_mode))
                 return fd_copy_directory(df, from, st, dt, to, original_device, depth_left-1, override_uid,
                                          override_gid, copy_flags, denylist, hardlink_context, display_path,
@@ -1230,6 +1236,7 @@ int copy_directory_at_full(
                 copy_progress_bytes_t progress_bytes,
                 void *userdata) {
 
+        _cleanup_close_ int fdt = -EBADF;
         struct stat st;
         int r;
 
@@ -1259,11 +1266,14 @@ int copy_directory_at_full(
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
 
+        if (FLAGS_SET(copy_flags, COPY_LOCK_BSD))
+                fdt = r;
+
         r = sync_dir_by_flags(dir_fdt, to, copy_flags);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
 
-        return 0;
+        return FLAGS_SET(copy_flags, COPY_LOCK_BSD) ? TAKE_FD(fdt) : 0;
 }
 
 int copy_file_fd_at_full(