diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/smp.c b/arch/arm64/kernel/smp.c
index 4e3bfbde829a..1598d6f7200a 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/smp.c
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/smp.c
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ int __cpu_up(unsigned int cpu, struct task_struct *idle)
 		}
 	} else {
 		pr_err("CPU%u: failed to boot: %d\n", cpu, ret);
+		return ret;
 	}
 
 	secondary_data.task = NULL;