diff --git a/src/lxc/cgroup.c b/src/lxc/cgroup.c
index a02ebc2fa..532d63833 100644
--- a/src/lxc/cgroup.c
+++ b/src/lxc/cgroup.c
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ static int lxc_one_cgroup_create(const char *name,
 	/* if cgparent does not exist, create it */
 	if (access(cgparent, F_OK)) {
 		ret = mkdir(cgparent, 0755);
-		if (ret == -1 && errno == EEXIST) {
+		if (ret == -1 && errno != EEXIST) {
 			SYSERROR("failed to create '%s' directory", cgparent);
 			return -1;
 		}