diff --git a/drivers/devfreq/devfreq.c b/drivers/devfreq/devfreq.c
index bed647637a93bc763f81da49a5fe029052c9a5bf..784c08e4f931979c9c255efe0cb0c3e30bbcc702 100644
--- a/drivers/devfreq/devfreq.c
+++ b/drivers/devfreq/devfreq.c
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ static struct devfreq_governor *try_then_request_governor(const char *name)
 		/* Restore previous state before return */
 		mutex_lock(&devfreq_list_lock);
 		if (err)
-			return ERR_PTR(err);
+			return (err < 0) ? ERR_PTR(err) : ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
 
 		governor = find_devfreq_governor(name);
 	}