diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/readdir.c b/fs/overlayfs/readdir.c
index 1dcc75b3a90f9..e7fe29cb6028b 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/readdir.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/readdir.c
@@ -838,15 +838,14 @@ static int ovl_iterate_merged(struct file *file, struct dir_context *ctx)
 	struct ovl_dir_file *od = file->private_data;
 	struct dentry *dentry = file->f_path.dentry;
 	struct ovl_cache_entry *p;
-	int err = 0;
+	int err;
 
 	if (!od->cache) {
 		struct ovl_dir_cache *cache;
 
 		cache = ovl_cache_get(dentry);
-		err = PTR_ERR(cache);
 		if (IS_ERR(cache))
-			return err;
+			return PTR_ERR(cache);
 
 		od->cache = cache;
 		ovl_seek_cursor(od, ctx->pos);
@@ -869,7 +868,7 @@ static int ovl_iterate_merged(struct file *file, struct dir_context *ctx)
 		od->cursor = p->l_node.next;
 		ctx->pos++;
 	}
-	return err;
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static bool ovl_need_adjust_d_ino(struct file *file)