diff --git a/drivers/net/phy/phy.c b/drivers/net/phy/phy.c
index 230ed97..aac85c4 100644
--- a/drivers/net/phy/phy.c
+++ b/drivers/net/phy/phy.c
@@ -609,10 +609,8 @@
 	while (phy_mask) {
 		int addr = ffs(phy_mask) - 1;
 		int r = get_phy_id(bus, addr, devad, &phy_id);
-		if (r < 0)
-			return ERR_PTR(r);
 		/* If the PHY ID is mostly f's, we didn't find anything */
-		if ((phy_id & 0x1fffffff) != 0x1fffffff)
+		if (r == 0 && (phy_id & 0x1fffffff) != 0x1fffffff)
 			return phy_device_create(bus, addr, phy_id, interface);
 		phy_mask &= ~(1 << addr);
 	}