diff --git a/src/build/libbe/storage/AppFileInfo.cpp b/src/build/libbe/storage/AppFileInfo.cpp
index 7f7af81a51..c5823333af 100644
--- a/src/build/libbe/storage/AppFileInfo.cpp
+++ b/src/build/libbe/storage/AppFileInfo.cpp
@@ -1118,7 +1118,7 @@ BAppFileInfo::_ReadData(const char *name, int32 id, type_code type,
 				error = B_ERROR;
 		}
 
-	} else
+	} else if (!foundData)
 		error = B_BAD_VALUE;
 
 	// return the allocated buffer, or free it on error