diff --git a/drivers/net/phy/phy-core.c b/drivers/net/phy/phy-core.c
index e75989ce88500398b5d8b3548c2ac8c41b91c84c..4083f00c97a5bb5f5c2c1c62afe698bcdf12d13e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/phy/phy-core.c
+++ b/drivers/net/phy/phy-core.c
@@ -336,16 +336,15 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(phy_write_mmd);
  */
 int __phy_modify(struct phy_device *phydev, u32 regnum, u16 mask, u16 set)
 {
-	int ret, res;
+	int ret;
 
 	ret = __phy_read(phydev, regnum);
-	if (ret >= 0) {
-		res = __phy_write(phydev, regnum, (ret & ~mask) | set);
-		if (res < 0)
-			ret = res;
-	}
+	if (ret < 0)
+		return ret;
 
-	return ret;
+	ret = __phy_write(phydev, regnum, (ret & ~mask) | set);
+
+	return ret < 0 ? ret : 0;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(__phy_modify);