diff --git a/include/spdk/ioat.h b/include/spdk/ioat.h
index a40dfb62eb..b3c8a334e3 100644
--- a/include/spdk/ioat.h
+++ b/include/spdk/ioat.h
@@ -90,12 +90,14 @@ void ioat_unregister_thread(void);
 int64_t ioat_submit_copy(void *cb_arg, ioat_callback_t cb_fn,
 			 void *dst, const void *src, uint64_t nbytes);
 
-/*
+/**
  * Check for completed requests on the current thread.
  *
  * Before submitting any requests on a thread, the thread must be registered
  * using the \ref ioat_register_thread() function.
+ *
+ * \returns 0 on success or negative if something went wrong.
  */
-void ioat_process_events(void);
+int ioat_process_events(void);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/ioat/ioat.c b/lib/ioat/ioat.c
index d00e2b6045..e5d0288762 100644
--- a/lib/ioat/ioat.c
+++ b/lib/ioat/ioat.c
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ static int ioat_reset_hw(struct ioat_channel *ioat)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static void
+static int
 ioat_process_channel_events(struct ioat_channel *ioat)
 {
 	struct ioat_descriptor *desc;
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ ioat_process_channel_events(struct ioat_channel *ioat)
 	uint32_t tail;
 
 	if (ioat->head == ioat->tail) {
-		return;
+		return 0;
 	}
 
 	status = *ioat->comp_update;
@@ -355,12 +355,11 @@ ioat_process_channel_events(struct ioat_channel *ioat)
 
 	if (is_ioat_halted(status)) {
 		ioat_printf(ioat, "%s: Channel halted (%x)\n", __func__, ioat->regs->chanerr);
-		/* TODO: report error */
-		return;
+		return -1;
 	}
 
 	if (completed_descriptor == ioat->last_seen) {
-		return;
+		return 0;
 	}
 
 	do {
@@ -376,6 +375,7 @@ ioat_process_channel_events(struct ioat_channel *ioat)
 	} while (hw_desc_phys_addr != completed_descriptor);
 
 	ioat->last_seen = hw_desc_phys_addr;
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static int
@@ -663,11 +663,11 @@ ioat_submit_copy(void *cb_arg, ioat_callback_t cb_fn,
 	return nbytes;
 }
 
-void ioat_process_events(void)
+int ioat_process_events(void)
 {
 	if (!ioat_thread_channel) {
-		return;
+		return -1;
 	}
 
-	ioat_process_channel_events(ioat_thread_channel);
+	return ioat_process_channel_events(ioat_thread_channel);
 }