diff --git a/accel/kvm/kvm-all.c b/accel/kvm/kvm-all.c
index 801cff16a5..77d811ca70 100644
--- a/accel/kvm/kvm-all.c
+++ b/accel/kvm/kvm-all.c
@@ -2999,17 +2999,17 @@ int kvm_convert_memory(hwaddr start, hwaddr size, bool to_private)
     MemoryRegion *mr;
     RAMBlock *rb;
     void *addr;
-    int ret = -1;
+    int ret = -EINVAL;
 
     trace_kvm_convert_memory(start, size, to_private ? "shared_to_private" : "private_to_shared");
 
     if (!QEMU_PTR_IS_ALIGNED(start, qemu_real_host_page_size()) ||
         !QEMU_PTR_IS_ALIGNED(size, qemu_real_host_page_size())) {
-        return -1;
+        return ret;
     }
 
     if (!size) {
-        return -1;
+        return ret;
     }
 
     section = memory_region_find(get_system_memory(), start, size);
@@ -3027,7 +3027,7 @@ int kvm_convert_memory(hwaddr start, hwaddr size, bool to_private)
         if (!to_private) {
             return 0;
         }
-        return -1;
+        return ret;
     }
 
     if (!memory_region_has_guest_memfd(mr)) {