diff --git a/src/add-ons/kernel/file_systems/layers/write_overlay/write_overlay.cpp b/src/add-ons/kernel/file_systems/layers/write_overlay/write_overlay.cpp
index 3ddf4a722a..d522941aa8 100644
--- a/src/add-ons/kernel/file_systems/layers/write_overlay/write_overlay.cpp
+++ b/src/add-ons/kernel/file_systems/layers/write_overlay/write_overlay.cpp
@@ -751,12 +751,11 @@ OverlayInode::SynchronousIO(void *cookie, IORequest *request)
 	else
 		result = Read(cookie, request->Offset(), NULL, &length, false, request);
 
-	if (result != B_OK)
-		return result;
+	if (result == B_OK)
+		request->SetTransferredBytes(false, length);
 
-	request->SetTransferredBytes(false, length);
-	request->SetStatusAndNotify(B_OK);
-	return B_OK;
+	request->SetStatusAndNotify(result);
+	return result;
 }