diff --git a/coreutils/md5_sha1_sum.c b/coreutils/md5_sha1_sum.c
index 92a4d4462..b23c6c0ff 100644
--- a/coreutils/md5_sha1_sum.c
+++ b/coreutils/md5_sha1_sum.c
@@ -151,7 +151,9 @@ static uint8_t *hash_file(const char *filename)
 			update(&context, in_buf, count);
 		}
 		hash_value = NULL;
-		if (count == 0) {
+		if (count < 0) {
+			bb_perror_msg("can't read '%s'", filename);
+		else /* count == 0 */ {
 			final(&context, in_buf);
 			hash_value = hash_bin_to_hex(in_buf, hash_len);
 		}