diff --git a/lib/image-sparse.c b/lib/image-sparse.c
index f8289064692..09225692e9b 100644
--- a/lib/image-sparse.c
+++ b/lib/image-sparse.c
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ int write_sparse_image(struct sparse_storage *info,
 
 			blks = write_sparse_chunk_raw(info, blk, blkcnt,
 						      data, response);
-			if (blks < 0)
+			if (IS_ERR_VALUE(blks))
 				return -1;
 
 			blk += blks;