diff --git a/channels.c b/channels.c
index d9f59f466..ffaf89720 100644
--- a/channels.c
+++ b/channels.c
@@ -5045,8 +5045,10 @@ connect_local_xsocket_path(const char *pathname)
 	struct sockaddr_un addr;
 
 	sock = socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
-	if (sock == -1)
+	if (sock == -1) {
 		error("socket: %.100s", strerror(errno));
+		return -1;
+	}
 	memset(&addr, 0, sizeof(addr));
 	addr.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
 	strlcpy(addr.sun_path, pathname, sizeof addr.sun_path);