diff --git a/libavfilter/graphparser.c b/libavfilter/graphparser.c
index 21ed1f27eb..7cf320f76a 100644
--- a/libavfilter/graphparser.c
+++ b/libavfilter/graphparser.c
@@ -34,11 +34,12 @@ static int link_filter(AVFilterContext *src, int srcpad,
                        AVFilterContext *dst, int dstpad,
                        AVClass *log_ctx)
 {
-    if (avfilter_link(src, srcpad, dst, dstpad)) {
+    int ret;
+    if ((ret = avfilter_link(src, srcpad, dst, dstpad))) {
         av_log(log_ctx, AV_LOG_ERROR,
                "cannot create the link %s:%d -> %s:%d\n",
                src->filter->name, srcpad, dst->filter->name, dstpad);
-        return -1;
+        return ret;
     }
 
     return 0;