diff --git a/src/checkout.c b/src/checkout.c
index 468c8dc6e..141fc1331 100644
--- a/src/checkout.c
+++ b/src/checkout.c
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ static bool submodule_is_config_only(
 
 	git_submodule_free(sm);
 
-	return false;
+	return rval;
 }
 
 static int checkout_action_with_wd(