diff --git a/src/common/ebml.cpp b/src/common/ebml.cpp
index 3a69b59ef..1a867a917 100644
--- a/src/common/ebml.cpp
+++ b/src/common/ebml.cpp
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ cstrutf8_to_UTFstring(const std::string &c) {
   for (src = 0; src < slen; dlen++) {
     clen = utf8_byte_length(c[src]);
     if (clen < 0)
-      return u;
+      break;
     src += clen;
   }