diff --git a/lib/libstand/write.c b/lib/libstand/write.c
index 022e77068383..ea9d491afa9c 100644
--- a/lib/libstand/write.c
+++ b/lib/libstand/write.c
@@ -95,5 +95,5 @@ write(fd, dest, bcount)
 	resid = bcount;
 	if ((errno = (f->f_ops->fo_write)(f, dest, bcount, &resid)))
 		return (-1);
-	return (0);
+	return (bcount - resid);
 }