diff --git a/drivers/tty/vt/vc_screen.c b/drivers/tty/vt/vc_screen.c
index c0a2273bb998b..1dc07f9214d57 100644
--- a/drivers/tty/vt/vc_screen.c
+++ b/drivers/tty/vt/vc_screen.c
@@ -403,10 +403,11 @@ vcs_read(struct file *file, char __user *buf, size_t count, loff_t *ppos)
 		unsigned int this_round, skip = 0;
 		int size;
 
-		ret = -ENXIO;
 		vc = vcs_vc(inode, &viewed);
-		if (!vc)
-			goto unlock_out;
+		if (!vc) {
+			ret = -ENXIO;
+			break;
+		}
 
 		/* Check whether we are above size each round,
 		 * as copy_to_user at the end of this loop