diff --git a/ffserver.c b/ffserver.c
index 032ce227da..e3c3b420a2 100644
--- a/ffserver.c
+++ b/ffserver.c
@@ -287,10 +287,14 @@ static int ffm_write_write_index(int fd, int64_t pos)
     for(i=0;i<8;i++)
         buf[i] = (pos >> (56 - i * 8)) & 0xff;
     if (lseek(fd, 8, SEEK_SET) < 0)
-        return AVERROR(EIO);
+        goto bail_eio;
     if (write(fd, buf, 8) != 8)
-        return AVERROR(EIO);
+        goto bail_eio;
+
     return 8;
+
+bail_eio:
+    return AVERROR(EIO);
 }
 
 static void ffm_set_write_index(AVFormatContext *s, int64_t pos,