diff --git a/src/libratbag-util.c b/src/libratbag-util.c
index 55f806d0..f9a45bbe 100644
--- a/src/libratbag-util.c
+++ b/src/libratbag-util.c
@@ -167,6 +167,8 @@ ratbag_utf8_from_enc(char *in_buf, size_t in_len, const char *from_enc,
 	*out = realloc(*out, (len - out_bytes_left) + 1);
 	if (!*out)
 		ret = -errno;
+	else
+		ret = (len - out_bytes_left) + 1;
 
 err:
 	if (ret < 0 && *out) {