diff --git a/src/rgw/rgw_op.cc b/src/rgw/rgw_op.cc
index 3accf03e496..1f017af5d80 100644
--- a/src/rgw/rgw_op.cc
+++ b/src/rgw/rgw_op.cc
@@ -3592,7 +3592,7 @@ void RGWCreateBucket::execute(optional_yield y)
    * recover from a partial create by retrying it. */
   ldpp_dout(this, 20) << "Bucket::create() returned ret=" << op_ret << " bucket=" << s->bucket << dendl;
 
-  if (op_ret)
+  if (op_ret < 0 && op_ret != EEXIST && op_ret != ERR_BUCKET_EXISTS)
     return;
 
   const bool existed = s->bucket_exists;