diff --git a/drivers/ata/libata-pmp.c b/drivers/ata/libata-pmp.c
index 3ff14071617c..79f2aeeb482a 100644
--- a/drivers/ata/libata-pmp.c
+++ b/drivers/ata/libata-pmp.c
@@ -763,6 +763,7 @@ static int sata_pmp_eh_recover_pmp(struct ata_port *ap,
 
 	if (dev->flags & ATA_DFLAG_DETACH) {
 		detach = 1;
+		rc = -ENODEV;
 		goto fail;
 	}