diff --git a/drivers/net/can/dev/netlink.c b/drivers/net/can/dev/netlink.c
index 0498198a4696..766d455950f5 100644
--- a/drivers/net/can/dev/netlink.c
+++ b/drivers/net/can/dev/netlink.c
@@ -601,7 +601,9 @@ static int can_changelink(struct net_device *dev, struct nlattr *tb[],
 	/* We need synchronization with dev->stop() */
 	ASSERT_RTNL();
 
-	can_ctrlmode_changelink(dev, data, extack);
+	err = can_ctrlmode_changelink(dev, data, extack);
+	if (err)
+		return err;
 
 	if (data[IFLA_CAN_BITTIMING]) {
 		struct can_bittiming bt;