diff --git a/linux-user/nios2/cpu_loop.c b/linux-user/nios2/cpu_loop.c
index 91737c568f..63afba5862 100644
--- a/linux-user/nios2/cpu_loop.c
+++ b/linux-user/nios2/cpu_loop.c
@@ -55,9 +55,14 @@ void cpu_loop(CPUNios2State *env)
                                  env->regs[7], env->regs[8], env->regs[9],
                                  0, 0);
 
+                /*
+                 * See the code after translate_rc_and_ret: all negative
+                 * values are errors (aided by userspace restricted to 2G),
+                 * errno is returned positive in r2, and error indication
+                 * is a boolean in r7.
+                 */
                 env->regs[2] = abs(ret);
-                /* Return value is 0..4096 */
-                env->regs[7] = ret > 0xfffff000u;
+                env->regs[7] = ret < 0;
                 break;
 
             case 1: