diff --git a/servers/slapd/backend.c b/servers/slapd/backend.c
index e97914d0a8bdd4941135d64b17e0665dda8be1fe..41f0b5ed2e49e62ec495cd1e38b9690ac564da0a 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/backend.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/backend.c
@@ -93,8 +93,7 @@ int backend_init(void)
 		"backend_init: failed\n",
 		0, 0, 0 );
 
-
-	return rc;
+	return rc ? rc : -1;
 }
 
 int backend_startup(int n)