diff --git a/drivers/rtc/interface.c b/drivers/rtc/interface.c
index ce051f91829f..1ab619fb978a 100644
--- a/drivers/rtc/interface.c
+++ b/drivers/rtc/interface.c
@@ -914,13 +914,18 @@ void rtc_timer_do_work(struct work_struct *work)
 	struct timerqueue_node *next;
 	ktime_t now;
 	struct rtc_time tm;
+	int err;
 
 	struct rtc_device *rtc =
 		container_of(work, struct rtc_device, irqwork);
 
 	mutex_lock(&rtc->ops_lock);
 again:
-	__rtc_read_time(rtc, &tm);
+	err = __rtc_read_time(rtc, &tm);
+	if (err) {
+		mutex_unlock(&rtc->ops_lock);
+		return;
+	}
 	now = rtc_tm_to_ktime(tm);
 	while ((next = timerqueue_getnext(&rtc->timerqueue))) {
 		if (next->expires > now)