diff --git a/drivers/net/phy/mdio-xpcs.c b/drivers/net/phy/mdio-xpcs.c
index 2f4cdf807160e835b12cdf6538226ac16497c604..c04e9bf401806986f9fcf2b39b8caff52b9b27de 100644
--- a/drivers/net/phy/mdio-xpcs.c
+++ b/drivers/net/phy/mdio-xpcs.c
@@ -255,8 +255,10 @@ static int xpcs_read_fault(struct mdio_xpcs_args *xpcs,
 	if (ret < 0)
 		return ret;
 
-	if (ret & MDIO_PCS_10GBRT_STAT2_ERR)
+	if (ret & MDIO_PCS_10GBRT_STAT2_ERR) {
 		xpcs_warn(xpcs, state, "Link has errors!\n");
+		return -EFAULT;
+	}
 
 	return 0;
 }