diff --git a/tdefile-plugins/elf/tdefile_elf.cpp b/tdefile-plugins/elf/tdefile_elf.cpp
index f3b399ed1..0b3a58490 100644
--- a/tdefile-plugins/elf/tdefile_elf.cpp
+++ b/tdefile-plugins/elf/tdefile_elf.cpp
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ bool KElfPlugin::readInfo( KFileMetaInfo& info, uint what)
 	if((handle = libr_open(const_cast<char*>(info.path().ascii()), access)) == NULL)
 	{
 		kdWarning() << "failed to open file" << info.path() << endl;
+		return false;
 	}
 
 	KFileMetaInfoGroup group = appendGroup(info, "Technical");