diff --git a/drivers/tty/serial/serial_core.c b/drivers/tty/serial/serial_core.c
index 0decb0bf991d7702b7e91f7b53d3fc0db571c242..83f4dd0bfd74552fe813646aa9abb71fed72ace9 100644
--- a/drivers/tty/serial/serial_core.c
+++ b/drivers/tty/serial/serial_core.c
@@ -2507,7 +2507,7 @@ static const struct tty_port_operations uart_port_ops = {
 int uart_register_driver(struct uart_driver *drv)
 {
 	struct tty_driver *normal;
-	int i, retval;
+	int i, retval = -ENOMEM;
 
 	BUG_ON(drv->state);
 
@@ -2559,7 +2559,7 @@ int uart_register_driver(struct uart_driver *drv)
 out_kfree:
 	kfree(drv->state);
 out:
-	return -ENOMEM;
+	return retval;
 }
 
 /**