diff --git a/src/hal/drivers/mesa-hostmot2/uart.c b/src/hal/drivers/mesa-hostmot2/uart.c
index ecad938ccfa..0b24cab957d 100644
--- a/src/hal/drivers/mesa-hostmot2/uart.c
+++ b/src/hal/drivers/mesa-hostmot2/uart.c
@@ -315,17 +315,29 @@ int hm2_uart_read(char *name, unsigned char data[])
         case 1:
             r = hm2->llio->read(hm2->llio, hm2->uart.instance[inst].rx1_addr,
                                 &buff, sizeof(rtapi_u32));
+            if (r < 0) {
+                HM2_ERR("UART READ: hm2->llio->read failure %s\n", name);
+                return r;
+            }
             data[c]   = (buff & 0x000000FF);
             return c + 1;
         case 2:
             r = hm2->llio->read(hm2->llio, hm2->uart.instance[inst].rx2_addr,
                                 &buff, sizeof(rtapi_u32));
+            if (r < 0) {
+                HM2_ERR("UART READ: hm2->llio->read failure %s\n", name);
+                return r;
+            }
             data[c]   = (buff & 0x000000FF);
             data[c+1] = (buff & 0x0000FF00) >> 8;
             return c + 2;
         case 3:
             r = hm2->llio->read(hm2->llio, hm2->uart.instance[inst].rx3_addr,
                                 &buff, sizeof(rtapi_u32));
+            if (r < 0) {
+                HM2_ERR("UART READ: hm2->llio->read failure %s\n", name);
+                return r;
+            }
             data[c]   = (buff & 0x000000FF);
             data[c+1] = (buff & 0x0000FF00) >> 8;
             data[c+2] = (buff & 0x00FF0000) >> 16;
@@ -334,12 +346,6 @@ int hm2_uart_read(char *name, unsigned char data[])
             HM2_ERR("UART READ: Error in buffer parsing.\n");
             return -EINVAL;
     }
-/* FIXME: Unreachable. Should be checked after assignment of 'r' above.
-    if (r < 0) {
-        HM2_ERR("UART READ: hm2->llio->write failure %s\n", name);
-        return -EINVAL;
-    }
-*/
 }
 
 void hm2_uart_print_module(hostmot2_t *hm2){