diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2d22bbbbdf..01d7b2ec87 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.
   interface are now often better - although there are still cases
   where you end up with hashed names. (#2172)
 
+* In some cases, GPU failures would not be reported properly if a
+  previous failure was pending.
+
 ## [0.25.20]
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/rts/c/backends/cuda.h b/rts/c/backends/cuda.h
index 8c91d8cf4e..64fa9a37b7 100644
--- a/rts/c/backends/cuda.h
+++ b/rts/c/backends/cuda.h
@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@ static char* get_failure_msg(int failure_idx, int64_t args[]);
     if (serror) {                               \
       if (!ctx->error) {                        \
         ctx->error = serror;                    \
-        return bad;                             \
       } else {                                  \
         free(serror);                           \
       }                                         \
+      return bad;                               \
     }                                           \
   }
 
diff --git a/rts/c/backends/hip.h b/rts/c/backends/hip.h
index 63aad6b042..5eae7c68f4 100644
--- a/rts/c/backends/hip.h
+++ b/rts/c/backends/hip.h
@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@ static char* get_failure_msg(int failure_idx, int64_t args[]);
     if (serror) {                               \
       if (!ctx->error) {                        \
         ctx->error = serror;                    \
-        return bad;                             \
       } else {                                  \
         free(serror);                           \
       }                                         \
+      return bad;                               \
     }                                           \
   }
 
diff --git a/rts/c/backends/opencl.h b/rts/c/backends/opencl.h
index e5bae526af..f9b1f9b91c 100644
--- a/rts/c/backends/opencl.h
+++ b/rts/c/backends/opencl.h
@@ -30,10 +30,10 @@ static char* get_failure_msg(int failure_idx, int64_t args[]);
     if (serror) {                               \
       if (!ctx->error) {                        \
         ctx->error = serror;                    \
-        return bad;                             \
       } else {                                  \
         free(serror);                           \
       }                                         \
+      return bad;                               \
     }                                           \
   }