diff --git a/clients/cli/common.c b/clients/cli/common.c
index 019f16e3bb..8b4a6aede5 100644
--- a/clients/cli/common.c
+++ b/clients/cli/common.c
@@ -1434,6 +1434,9 @@ nmc_do_cmd (NmCli *nmc, const NMCCommand cmds[], const char *cmd, int argc, char
 {
 	const NMCCommand *c;
 
+	if (argc == 0 && nmc->complete)
+		return nmc->return_value;
+
 	if (argc == 1 && nmc->complete) {
 		for (c = cmds; c->cmd; ++c) {
 			if (!*cmd || matches (cmd, c->cmd) == 0)