diff --git a/lib/bdev/bdev_rpc.c b/lib/bdev/bdev_rpc.c
index 339bfce97..a718c856f 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/bdev_rpc.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/bdev_rpc.c
@@ -1084,7 +1084,11 @@ bdev_histogram_status_cb(void *cb_arg, int status)
 {
 	struct spdk_jsonrpc_request *request = cb_arg;
 
-	spdk_jsonrpc_send_bool_response(request, status == 0);
+	if (status == 0) {
+		spdk_jsonrpc_send_bool_response(request, true);
+	} else {
+		spdk_jsonrpc_send_error_response(request, status, spdk_strerror(-status));
+	}
 }
 
 static void