diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 005573d81..0f9c81b78 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ mbed TLS ChangeLog (Sorted per branch, date)
 Bugfix
    * Run the AD too long test only if MBEDTLS_CCM_ALT is not defined.
      Raised as a comment in #1996.
+   * Fix returning the value 1 when mbedtls_ecdsa_genkey failed.
 
 = mbed TLS 2.7.9 branch released 2018-12-21
 
diff --git a/library/ecdsa.c b/library/ecdsa.c
index 17a88bdd2..ab75620b3 100644
--- a/library/ecdsa.c
+++ b/library/ecdsa.c
@@ -420,8 +420,13 @@ cleanup:
 int mbedtls_ecdsa_genkey( mbedtls_ecdsa_context *ctx, mbedtls_ecp_group_id gid,
                   int (*f_rng)(void *, unsigned char *, size_t), void *p_rng )
 {
-    return( mbedtls_ecp_group_load( &ctx->grp, gid ) ||
-            mbedtls_ecp_gen_keypair( &ctx->grp, &ctx->d, &ctx->Q, f_rng, p_rng ) );
+    int ret = 0;
+    ret = mbedtls_ecp_group_load( &ctx->grp, gid );
+    if( ret != 0 )
+        return( ret );
+
+   return( mbedtls_ecp_gen_keypair( &ctx->grp, &ctx->d,
+                                    &ctx->Q, f_rng, p_rng ) );
 }
 #endif /* MBEDTLS_ECDSA_GENKEY_ALT */