diff --git a/tests/pb/test_encoder.cc b/tests/pb/test_encoder.cc
index 8b78ea8196..f0b31c6a3a 100644
--- a/tests/pb/test_encoder.cc
+++ b/tests/pb/test_encoder.cc
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ void test_pb_roundtrip() {
       google_protobuf_FileDescriptorSet_file(set, &n);
   ASSERT(n == 1);
   upb::Status status;
-  bool ok = symtab.AddFile(files[0], &status);
-  if (!ok) {
+  upb::FileDefPtr file_def = symtab.AddFile(files[0], &status);
+  if (!file_def) {
     fprintf(stderr, "Error building def: %s\n", status.error_message());
     ASSERT(false);
   }
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ void test_pb_roundtrip() {
       upb::pb::EncoderPtr::Create(&arena, encoder_handlers, string_sink.input());
   upb::pb::DecoderPtr decoder =
       upb::pb::DecoderPtr::Create(&arena, method, encoder.input(), &status);
-  ok = upb::PutBuffer(input, decoder.input());
+  bool ok = upb::PutBuffer(input, decoder.input());
   ASSERT(ok);
   ASSERT(input == output);
 }
diff --git a/upb/def.c b/upb/def.c
index aedd88d04f..4a893d1a05 100644
--- a/upb/def.c
+++ b/upb/def.c
@@ -1649,9 +1649,9 @@ static bool upb_symtab_addtotabs(upb_symtab *s, symtab_addctx *ctx,
   return true;
 }
 
-bool upb_symtab_addfile(upb_symtab *s,
-                        const google_protobuf_FileDescriptorProto *file_proto,
-                        upb_status *status) {
+const upb_filedef *upb_symtab_addfile(
+    upb_symtab *s, const google_protobuf_FileDescriptorProto *file_proto,
+    upb_status *status) {
   upb_arena *tmparena = upb_arena_new();
   upb_strtable addtab;
   upb_alloc *alloc = upb_arena_alloc(s->arena);
@@ -1672,7 +1672,7 @@ bool upb_symtab_addfile(upb_symtab *s,
       upb_symtab_addtotabs(s, &ctx, status);
 
   upb_arena_free(tmparena);
-  return ok;
+  return ok ? file : NULL;
 }
 
 /* Include here since we want most of this file to be stdio-free. */
diff --git a/upb/def.h b/upb/def.h
index 4fd8509a38..7675138404 100644
--- a/upb/def.h
+++ b/upb/def.h
@@ -788,9 +788,9 @@ const upb_msgdef *upb_symtab_lookupmsg2(
     const upb_symtab *s, const char *sym, size_t len);
 const upb_enumdef *upb_symtab_lookupenum(const upb_symtab *s, const char *sym);
 int upb_symtab_filecount(const upb_symtab *s);
-bool upb_symtab_addfile(upb_symtab *s,
-                        const google_protobuf_FileDescriptorProto* file,
-                        upb_status *status);
+const upb_filedef *upb_symtab_addfile(
+    upb_symtab *s, const google_protobuf_FileDescriptorProto *file,
+    upb_status *status);
 
 /* For generated code only: loads a generated descriptor. */
 typedef struct upb_def_init {
@@ -826,9 +826,10 @@ class upb::SymbolTable {
   /* TODO: iteration? */
 
   /* Adds the given serialized FileDescriptorProto to the pool. */
-  bool AddFile(const google_protobuf_FileDescriptorProto *file_proto,
-               Status *status) {
-    return upb_symtab_addfile(ptr_.get(), file_proto, status->ptr());
+  FileDefPtr AddFile(const google_protobuf_FileDescriptorProto *file_proto,
+                     Status *status) {
+    return FileDefPtr(
+        upb_symtab_addfile(ptr_.get(), file_proto, status->ptr()));
   }
 
  private: