diff --git a/lib/libpfctl/libpfctl.c b/lib/libpfctl/libpfctl.c
index 59783592a370..ac60a924c228 100644
--- a/lib/libpfctl/libpfctl.c
+++ b/lib/libpfctl/libpfctl.c
@@ -2009,7 +2009,7 @@ pfctl_get_states_h(struct pfctl_handle *h, struct pfctl_state_filter *filter, pf
 			return (ret);
 	}
 
-	return (0);
+	return (e.error);
 }
 
 int
diff --git a/sbin/pfctl/pfctl.c b/sbin/pfctl/pfctl.c
index e84e7f9272d4..f35baf25ec35 100644
--- a/sbin/pfctl/pfctl.c
+++ b/sbin/pfctl/pfctl.c
@@ -1991,6 +1991,7 @@ pfctl_show_states(int dev, const char *iface, int opts)
 {
 	struct pfctl_show_state_arg arg;
 	struct pfctl_state_filter filter = {};
+	int ret;
 
 	if (iface != NULL)
 		strlcpy(filter.ifname, iface, IFNAMSIZ);
@@ -1999,8 +2000,8 @@ pfctl_show_states(int dev, const char *iface, int opts)
 	arg.dotitle = opts & PF_OPT_SHOWALL;
 	arg.iface = iface;
 
-	if (pfctl_get_states_h(pfh, &filter, pfctl_show_state, &arg))
-		return (-1);
+	if ((ret = pfctl_get_states_h(pfh, &filter, pfctl_show_state, &arg)) != 0)
+		errc(1, ret, "pfctl_get_states");
 
 	return (0);
 }