diff --git a/fs/autofs4/dev-ioctl.c b/fs/autofs4/dev-ioctl.c
index 734cbf8d9676..dd9f1bebb5a3 100644
--- a/fs/autofs4/dev-ioctl.c
+++ b/fs/autofs4/dev-ioctl.c
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ static int autofs_dev_ioctl_fail(struct file *fp,
 	int status;
 
 	token = (autofs_wqt_t) param->fail.token;
-	status = param->fail.status ? param->fail.status : -ENOENT;
+	status = param->fail.status < 0 ? param->fail.status : -ENOENT;
 	return autofs4_wait_release(sbi, token, status);
 }