diff --git a/lib/telnet.c b/lib/telnet.c
index 5144a1afa1..6eb60706c9 100644
--- a/lib/telnet.c
+++ b/lib/telnet.c
@@ -984,6 +984,7 @@ static CURLcode suboption(struct Curl_easy *data, struct TELNET *tn)
       if(bytes_written < 0) {
         err = SOCKERRNO;
         failf(data,"Sending data failed (%d)",err);
+        return CURLE_SEND_ERROR;
       }
       printsub(data, '>', &temp[2], len-2);
       break;