diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/e1000/e1000_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/e1000/e1000_ethtool.c
index 0a57172dfcbc..631165b895b6 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/e1000/e1000_ethtool.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/e1000/e1000_ethtool.c
@@ -496,14 +496,19 @@ static int e1000_set_eeprom(struct net_device *netdev,
 		 */
 		ret_val = e1000_read_eeprom(hw, first_word, 1,
 					    &eeprom_buff[0]);
+		if (ret_val)
+			goto out;
+
 		ptr++;
 	}
-	if (((eeprom->offset + eeprom->len) & 1) && (ret_val == 0)) {
+	if ((eeprom->offset + eeprom->len) & 1) {
 		/* need read/modify/write of last changed EEPROM word
 		 * only the first byte of the word is being modified
 		 */
 		ret_val = e1000_read_eeprom(hw, last_word, 1,
 					    &eeprom_buff[last_word - first_word]);
+		if (ret_val)
+			goto out;
 	}
 
 	/* Device's eeprom is always little-endian, word addressable */
@@ -522,6 +527,7 @@ static int e1000_set_eeprom(struct net_device *netdev,
 	if ((ret_val == 0) && (first_word <= EEPROM_CHECKSUM_REG))
 		e1000_update_eeprom_checksum(hw);
 
+out:
 	kfree(eeprom_buff);
 	return ret_val;
 }