diff --git a/arch/powerpc/kernel/misc_32.S b/arch/powerpc/kernel/misc_32.S
index e9c8ab6eabfed1cb2b256e219a9eb7df9cea7b3a..6a9b4bf0d173e0f0a656c0ef313af7fed325df59 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/kernel/misc_32.S
+++ b/arch/powerpc/kernel/misc_32.S
@@ -900,8 +900,10 @@ _GLOBAL(kernel_thread)
 	li	r4,0		/* new sp (unused) */
 	li	r0,__NR_clone
 	sc
-	cmpwi	0,r3,0		/* parent or child? */
-	bne	1f		/* return if parent */
+	bns+	1f		/* did system call indicate error? */
+	neg	r3,r3		/* if so, make return code negative */
+1:	cmpwi	0,r3,0		/* parent or child? */
+	bne	2f		/* return if parent */
 	li	r0,0		/* make top-level stack frame */
 	stwu	r0,-16(r1)
 	mtlr	r30		/* fn addr in lr */
@@ -911,7 +913,7 @@ _GLOBAL(kernel_thread)
 	li	r0,__NR_exit	/* exit if function returns */
 	li	r3,0
 	sc
-1:	lwz	r30,8(r1)
+2:	lwz	r30,8(r1)
 	lwz	r31,12(r1)
 	addi	r1,r1,16
 	blr
diff --git a/arch/powerpc/kernel/misc_64.S b/arch/powerpc/kernel/misc_64.S
index 4dd70cf7bb4eb6e17e8755b4f5fad3b4fb9ae49d..3053fe5c62f2a67694d430187df900495c19531b 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/kernel/misc_64.S
+++ b/arch/powerpc/kernel/misc_64.S
@@ -426,8 +426,10 @@ _GLOBAL(kernel_thread)
 	li	r4,0		/* new sp (unused) */
 	li	r0,__NR_clone
 	sc
-	cmpdi	0,r3,0		/* parent or child? */
-	bne	1f		/* return if parent */
+	bns+	1f		/* did system call indicate error? */
+	neg	r3,r3		/* if so, make return code negative */
+1:	cmpdi	0,r3,0		/* parent or child? */
+	bne	2f		/* return if parent */
 	li	r0,0
 	stdu	r0,-STACK_FRAME_OVERHEAD(r1)
 	ld	r2,8(r29)
@@ -438,7 +440,7 @@ _GLOBAL(kernel_thread)
 	li	r0,__NR_exit	/* exit after child exits */
         li	r3,0
 	sc
-1:	addi	r1,r1,STACK_FRAME_OVERHEAD	
+2:	addi	r1,r1,STACK_FRAME_OVERHEAD
 	ld	r29,-24(r1)
 	ld	r30,-16(r1)
 	blr