diff --git a/lib/rhashtable.c b/lib/rhashtable.c
index 30526afa8343124f06f0649592ee246dc4d88fbe..6410c857b048d4b44039dade121586e973a8596a 100644
--- a/lib/rhashtable.c
+++ b/lib/rhashtable.c
@@ -416,8 +416,12 @@ static void rht_deferred_worker(struct work_struct *work)
 	else if (tbl->nest)
 		err = rhashtable_rehash_alloc(ht, tbl, tbl->size);
 
-	if (!err)
-		err = rhashtable_rehash_table(ht);
+	if (!err || err == -EEXIST) {
+		int nerr;
+
+		nerr = rhashtable_rehash_table(ht);
+		err = err ?: nerr;
+	}
 
 	mutex_unlock(&ht->mutex);