diff --git a/src/nl.h b/src/nl.h
index fa07528..640625d 100644
--- a/src/nl.h
+++ b/src/nl.h
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ static inline int nlmsg_get_error(const struct nlmsghdr *nlh)
     const struct nlmsgerr *err = (const struct nlmsgerr *)NLMSG_DATA(nlh);
     if (nlh->nlmsg_len < sizeof(struct nlmsgerr) + NLMSG_HDRLEN)
         return EBADMSG;
-    return err->error & 0x7fffffff;
+    return -err->error;
 }
 
 int rtattr_assign(struct rtattr *attr, int type, void *data);