diff --git a/net/ipv4/tcp_bpf.c b/net/ipv4/tcp_bpf.c
index 53b0d62fd2c2db..fe6178715ba05f 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/tcp_bpf.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/tcp_bpf.c
@@ -577,7 +577,7 @@ static int tcp_bpf_sendmsg(struct sock *sk, struct msghdr *msg, size_t size)
 		err = sk_stream_error(sk, msg->msg_flags, err);
 	release_sock(sk);
 	sk_psock_put(sk, psock);
-	return copied ? copied : err;
+	return copied > 0 ? copied : err;
 }
 
 enum {