diff --git a/net/core/net_namespace.c b/net/core/net_namespace.c
index 1f60c180e2dedbcec2e5c684713421dbc695b223..2178db8e47cd332a3ca0de850cd574a5acaadb10 100644
--- a/net/core/net_namespace.c
+++ b/net/core/net_namespace.c
@@ -642,6 +642,7 @@ static int rtnl_net_newid(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 		rtnl_net_notifyid(net, RTM_NEWNSID, err);
 		err = 0;
 	} else if (err == -ENOSPC && nsid >= 0) {
+		err = -EEXIST;
 		NL_SET_BAD_ATTR(extack, tb[NETNSA_NSID]);
 		NL_SET_ERR_MSG(extack, "The specified nsid is already used");
 	}