diff --git a/controllers/machinedeployment_controller.go b/controllers/machinedeployment_controller.go
index 7f6a24a1ee7b..cf8ac161a45b 100644
--- a/controllers/machinedeployment_controller.go
+++ b/controllers/machinedeployment_controller.go
@@ -127,8 +127,7 @@ func (r *MachineDeploymentReconciler) Reconcile(req ctrl.Request) (_ ctrl.Result
 		logger.Error(err, "Failed to reconcile MachineDeployment")
 		r.recorder.Eventf(deployment, corev1.EventTypeWarning, "ReconcileError", "%v", err)
 	}
-
-	return result, nil
+	return result, err
 }
 
 func (r *MachineDeploymentReconciler) reconcile(ctx context.Context, cluster *clusterv1.Cluster, d *clusterv1.MachineDeployment) (ctrl.Result, error) {