diff --git a/tools/power/cpupower/lib/cpupower.c b/tools/power/cpupower/lib/cpupower.c
index 7a2ef691b20e..c2a7af89a67b 100644
--- a/tools/power/cpupower/lib/cpupower.c
+++ b/tools/power/cpupower/lib/cpupower.c
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ unsigned int cpupower_write_sysfs(const char *path, char *buf, size_t buflen)
 	if (numwritten < 1) {
 		perror(path);
 		close(fd);
-		return -1;
+		return 0;
 	}
 
 	close(fd);