diff --git a/lib/libthr/thread/thr_kill.c b/lib/libthr/thread/thr_kill.c
index b54458c58575..8b0f68353ef7 100644
--- a/lib/libthr/thread/thr_kill.c
+++ b/lib/libthr/thread/thr_kill.c
@@ -42,24 +42,27 @@ __weak_reference(_pthread_kill, pthread_kill);
 int
 _pthread_kill(pthread_t pthread, int sig)
 {
-	struct pthread *curthread = _get_curthread();
+	struct pthread *curthread;
 	int ret;
 
 	/* Check for invalid signal numbers: */
 	if (sig < 0 || sig > _SIG_MAXSIG)
 		/* Invalid signal: */
-		ret = EINVAL;
+		return (EINVAL);
+
+	curthread = _get_curthread();
+
 	/*
 	 * Ensure the thread is in the list of active threads, and the
 	 * signal is valid (signal 0 specifies error checking only) and
 	 * not being ignored:
 	 */
-	else if (curthread == pthread) {
+	if (curthread == pthread) {
 		if (sig > 0)
 			_thr_send_sig(pthread, sig);
 		ret = 0;
-	} if ((ret = _thr_find_thread(curthread, pthread, /*include dead*/0))
-	    == 0) {
+	} else if ((ret = _thr_find_thread(curthread, pthread,
+	    /*include dead*/0)) == 0) {
 		if (sig > 0)
 			_thr_send_sig(pthread, sig);
 		THR_THREAD_UNLOCK(curthread, pthread);