diff --git a/plugins/parsers/avro/parser.go b/plugins/parsers/avro/parser.go
index c5e2ce31077ba..f85eee70e491d 100644
--- a/plugins/parsers/avro/parser.go
+++ b/plugins/parsers/avro/parser.go
@@ -32,8 +32,18 @@ type Parser struct {
 	createMetric func(interface{}, string) (telegraf.Metric, error)
 }
 
+type metricInput struct {
+	Name string
+	Tags map[string]string
+	Fields map[string]interface{}
+	Timestamp time.Time
+}
+
 func (p *Parser) Parse(buf []byte) ([]telegraf.Metric, error) {
 	schemaID, binaryData, err := p.extractSchemaAndMessage(buf)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 
 	var schema string
 	var codec *goavro.Codec
@@ -92,10 +102,17 @@ func (p *Parser) SetDefaultTags(tags map[string]string) {
 	p.DefaultTags = tags
 }
 
-func (p *Parser) setupMetric(native interface{}, schema string) (string, map[string]string, map[string]interface{}, time.Time, error) {
+func (p *Parser) setupMetric(native interface{}, schema string) (metricInput, error) {
+	badReturn := metricInput{
+		Name: "",
+		Tags: nil,
+		Fields: nil,
+		Timestamp: time.Time{},
+	}
+			
 	deep, ok := native.(map[string]interface{})
 	if !ok {
-		return "", nil, nil, time.Time{}, fmt.Errorf("cannot cast native interface {} to map[string]interface{}")
+		return badReturn, fmt.Errorf("cannot cast native interface {} to map[string]interface{}")
 	}
 
 	timestamp := nestedValue(deep[p.Timestamp])
@@ -105,7 +122,7 @@ func (p *Parser) setupMetric(native interface{}, schema string) (string, map[str
 
 	metricTime, err := internal.ParseTimestamp(p.TimestampFormat, timestamp, "UTC")
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", nil, nil, time.Time{}, err
+		return badReturn, err
 	}
 
 	if p.RoundTimestampTo != "" {
@@ -167,11 +184,11 @@ func (p *Parser) setupMetric(native interface{}, schema string) (string, map[str
 
 	err = json.Unmarshal([]byte(schema), &schemaObj)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", nil, nil, time.Time{}, err
+		return badReturn, err
 	}
 	if len(fields) == 0 {
 		// A telegraf metric needs at least one field.
-		return "", nil, nil, time.Time{}, fmt.Errorf("number of fields is 0; unable to create metric")
+		return badReturn, fmt.Errorf("number of fields is 0; unable to create metric")
 	}
 	// Now some fancy stuff to extract the measurement.
 	// If it's set in the configuration, use that.
@@ -191,7 +208,7 @@ func (p *Parser) setupMetric(native interface{}, schema string) (string, map[str
 		
 		nStr, ok := schemaObj["name"].(string)
 		if !ok {
-			return "", nil, nil, time.Time{}, fmt.Errorf("could not determine name from schema %s", schema)
+			return badReturn, fmt.Errorf("could not determine name from schema %s", schema)
 		}
 		name = nsStr + separator + nStr
 	}
@@ -202,21 +219,26 @@ func (p *Parser) setupMetric(native interface{}, schema string) (string, map[str
 	}
 	// Nothing?  Give up.
 	if name == "" {
-		return "", nil, nil, time.Time{}, fmt.Errorf("could not determine measurement name")
+		return badReturn, fmt.Errorf("could not determine measurement name")
 	}
-	return name, tags, fields, metricTime, nil
+	return metricInput{
+		Name: name,
+		Tags: tags,
+		Fields: fields,
+		Timestamp: metricTime,
+	}, nil
 }
 
 func (p *Parser) createScalarMetric(native interface{}, schema string) (telegraf.Metric, error) {
-	name, tags, fields, metricTime, err := p.setupMetric(native, schema)
+	m, err := p.setupMetric(native, schema)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	return metric.New(name, tags, fields, metricTime), nil
+	return metric.New(m.Name, m.Tags, m.Fields, m.Timestamp), nil
 }
 
 func (p *Parser) createComplexMetric(native interface{}, schema string) (telegraf.Metric, error) {
-	name, tags, fields, metricTime, err := p.setupMetric(native, schema)
+	m, err := p.setupMetric(native, schema)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -227,11 +249,11 @@ func (p *Parser) createComplexMetric(native interface{}, schema string) (telegra
 		Middle: p.FieldSeparator,
 		After:  "",
 	}
-	flat, err := flatten.Flatten(fields, "", sep)
+	flat, err := flatten.Flatten(m.Fields, "", sep)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	return metric.New(name, tags, flat, metricTime), nil
+	return metric.New(m.Name, m.Tags, flat, m.Timestamp), nil
 }
 
 func nestedValue(deep interface{}) interface{} {