diff --git a/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c b/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c
index f4e5f0040ff7..304535942de2 100644
--- a/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c
+++ b/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c
@@ -341,6 +341,8 @@ static int rtc_dev_ioctl(struct inode *inode, struct file *file,
 	case RTC_IRQP_READ:
 		if (ops->irq_set_freq)
 			err = put_user(rtc->irq_freq, (unsigned long __user *)uarg);
+		else
+			err = -ENOTTY;
 		break;
 
 	case RTC_IRQP_SET: