diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/xattr.c b/fs/ocfs2/xattr.c
index 2423e905ec1a..268619c96b4e 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/xattr.c
@@ -646,6 +646,7 @@ int ocfs2_calc_xattr_init(struct inode *dir,
 			if (S_ISDIR(mode))
 				a_size <<= 1;
 		} else if (acl_len != 0 && acl_len != -ENODATA) {
+			ret = acl_len;
 			mlog_errno(ret);
 			return ret;
 		}