diff --git a/lib/libfdt/fdt_ro.c b/lib/libfdt/fdt_ro.c
index 7e894b742b456a9fef7f22227c2781ce76ebe24b..fc08981a2c8c86c1d6cf4c9d8d68e98b527c3248 100644
--- a/lib/libfdt/fdt_ro.c
+++ b/lib/libfdt/fdt_ro.c
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@ int fdt_stringlist_count(const void *fdt, int nodeoffset, const char *property)
 
 	list = fdt_getprop(fdt, nodeoffset, property, &length);
 	if (!list)
-		return -length;
+		return length;
 
 	end = list + length;