diff --git a/libselinux/src/context.c b/libselinux/src/context.c
index 090264a4..ce425880 100644
--- a/libselinux/src/context.c
+++ b/libselinux/src/context.c
@@ -151,14 +151,14 @@ static int set_comp(context_private_t * n, int idx, const char *str)
 	if (str) {
 		t = (char *)malloc(strlen(str) + 1);
 		if (!t) {
-			return 1;
+			return -1;
 		}
 		for (p = str; *p; p++) {
 			if (*p == '\t' || *p == '\n' || *p == '\r' ||
 			    ((*p == ':' || *p == ' ') && idx != COMP_RANGE)) {
 				free(t);
 				errno = EINVAL;
-				return 1;
+				return -1;
 			}
 		}
 		strcpy(t, str);