diff --git a/drivers/nvme/target/auth.c b/drivers/nvme/target/auth.c
index 4dcddcf95279..1f7d492c4dc2 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/target/auth.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/target/auth.c
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ out_free_response:
 	kfree_sensitive(host_response);
 out_free_tfm:
 	crypto_free_shash(shash_tfm);
-	return 0;
+	return ret;
 }
 
 int nvmet_auth_ctrl_hash(struct nvmet_req *req, u8 *response,