diff --git a/drivers/staging/lustre/lustre/llite/llite_lib.c b/drivers/staging/lustre/lustre/llite/llite_lib.c
index 6735a6f006d2..020f0faeb750 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/lustre/lustre/llite/llite_lib.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/lustre/lustre/llite/llite_lib.c
@@ -2143,7 +2143,7 @@ int ll_prep_inode(struct inode **inode, struct ptlrpc_request *req,
 				md.posix_acl = NULL;
 			}
 #endif
-			rc = -ENOMEM;
+			rc = PTR_ERR(*inode);
 			CERROR("new_inode -fatal: rc %d\n", rc);
 			goto out;
 		}