diff --git a/drivers/mtd/mtdcore.c b/drivers/mtd/mtdcore.c
index 2a228ee32641..16077e5a2df1 100644
--- a/drivers/mtd/mtdcore.c
+++ b/drivers/mtd/mtdcore.c
@@ -886,8 +886,10 @@ static int mtd_otp_nvmem_add(struct mtd_info *mtd)
 
 	if (mtd->_get_user_prot_info && mtd->_read_user_prot_reg) {
 		size = mtd_otp_size(mtd, true);
-		if (size < 0)
-			return size;
+		if (size < 0) {
+			err = size;
+			goto err;
+		}
 
 		if (size > 0) {
 			nvmem = mtd_otp_nvmem_register(mtd, "user-otp", size,