diff --git a/src/iio-buffer-utils.c b/src/iio-buffer-utils.c
index 6752ba8..7102eae 100644
--- a/src/iio-buffer-utils.c
+++ b/src/iio-buffer-utils.c
@@ -228,7 +228,10 @@ iioutils_get_param_float (float      *output,
 
 	sysfsfp = fopen (filename, "r");
 	if (sysfsfp) {
-		fscanf (sysfsfp, "%f", output);
+		if (fscanf (sysfsfp, "%f", output) != 1) {
+			g_debug ("Failed to read float from %s", filename);
+			ret = -EINVAL;
+		}
 		fclose (sysfsfp);
 	} else {
 		ret = -errno;