diff --git a/src/openssl_stream.c b/src/openssl_stream.c
index a65f5586e..9d97bae00 100644
--- a/src/openssl_stream.c
+++ b/src/openssl_stream.c
@@ -522,8 +522,9 @@ ssize_t openssl_read(git_stream *stream, void *data, size_t len)
 	openssl_stream *st = (openssl_stream *) stream;
 	int ret;
 
-	if ((ret = SSL_read(st->ssl, data, len)) <= 0)
-		ssl_set_error(st->ssl, ret);
+	if ((ret = SSL_read(st->ssl, data, len)) <= 0) {
+		return ssl_set_error(st->ssl, ret);
+	}
 
 	return ret;
 }