diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/user_sdma.c b/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/user_sdma.c
index bee75beda730..825e475dc9fe 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/user_sdma.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/hw/hfi1/user_sdma.c
@@ -860,8 +860,10 @@ static int user_sdma_send_pkts(struct user_sdma_request *req, u16 maxpkts)
 
 				changes = set_txreq_header_ahg(req, tx,
 							       datalen);
-				if (changes < 0)
+				if (changes < 0) {
+					ret = changes;
 					goto free_tx;
+				}
 			}
 		} else {
 			ret = sdma_txinit(&tx->txreq, 0, sizeof(req->hdr) +