diff --git a/libfdisk/src/context.c b/libfdisk/src/context.c
index 02b035c92..4fe24d011 100644
--- a/libfdisk/src/context.c
+++ b/libfdisk/src/context.c
@@ -537,7 +537,7 @@ static void reset_context(struct fdisk_context *cxt)
 int fdisk_assign_device(struct fdisk_context *cxt,
 			const char *fname, int readonly)
 {
-	int fd;
+	int fd, rc = 0;
 
 	DBG(CXT, ul_debugobj(cxt, "assigning device %s", fname));
 	assert(cxt);
@@ -598,10 +598,11 @@ int fdisk_assign_device(struct fdisk_context *cxt,
 			      fname, readonly ? "READ-ONLY" : "READ-WRITE"));
 	return 0;
 fail:
+	rc = -errno;
 	if (fd >= 0)
 		close(fd);
 	DBG(CXT, ul_debugobj(cxt, "failed to assign device"));
-	return -errno;
+	return rc;
 }
 
 /**