diff --git a/src/libeis-socket.c b/src/libeis-socket.c
index 888c955..5ce918b 100644
--- a/src/libeis-socket.c
+++ b/src/libeis-socket.c
@@ -147,11 +147,15 @@ eis_setup_backend_socket(struct eis *eis, const char *socketpath)
 	 * socket file. */
 	_cleanup_free_ char *lockfile = xaprintf("%s.lock", path);
 	_cleanup_close_ int lockfd =
-		open(lockfile, O_CREAT | O_CLOEXEC | O_RDWR, S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR);
-	int rc = flock(lockfd, LOCK_EX | LOCK_NB);
+		xerrno(open(lockfile, O_CREAT | O_CLOEXEC | O_RDWR, S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR));
+	int rc;
+	if (lockfd >= 0)
+		rc = xerrno(flock(lockfd, LOCK_EX | LOCK_NB));
+	else
+		rc = lockfd;
 	if (rc < 0) {
 		log_error(eis, "Failed to create lockfile %s, is another EIS running?", lockfile);
-		return -errno;
+		return -rc;
 	}
 
 	struct stat st;