diff --git a/fsck.c b/fsck.c
index ca4c685377..21dfa5f98c 100644
--- a/fsck.c
+++ b/fsck.c
@@ -666,9 +666,11 @@ static int fsck_commit_buffer(struct commit *commit, const char *buffer,
 	err = fsck_ident(&buffer, &commit->object, options);
 	if (err)
 		return err;
-	if (!commit->tree)
-		return report(options, &commit->object, FSCK_MSG_BAD_TREE, "could not load commit's tree %s", sha1_to_hex(tree_sha1));
-
+	if (!commit->tree) {
+		err = report(options, &commit->object, FSCK_MSG_BAD_TREE, "could not load commit's tree %s", sha1_to_hex(tree_sha1));
+		if (err)
+			return err;
+	}
 	return 0;
 }