diff --git a/examples/client/client.c b/examples/client/client.c
index 552bdc0db..abbdb1ca8 100644
--- a/examples/client/client.c
+++ b/examples/client/client.c
@@ -749,7 +749,7 @@ static void ClientRead(WOLFSSL* ssl, char* reply, int replyLen, int mustRead)
             elapsed = current_time(0) - start;
             if (elapsed > MAX_NON_BLOCK_SEC) {
                 printf("Nonblocking read timeout\n");
-                err = WOLFSSL_FATAL_ERROR;
+                ret = WOLFSSL_FATAL_ERROR;
                 break;
             }
         }