diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_gem_submit.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_gem_submit.c
index 286124008445d..6b6feae1f7b62 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_gem_submit.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_gem_submit.c
@@ -928,7 +928,7 @@ int msm_ioctl_gem_submit(struct drm_device *dev, void *data,
 						    INT_MAX, GFP_KERNEL);
 	}
 	if (submit->fence_id < 0) {
-		ret = submit->fence_id = 0;
+		ret = submit->fence_id;
 		submit->fence_id = 0;
 	}