diff --git a/intl/icu/source/tools/pkgdata/pkgdata.cpp b/intl/icu/source/tools/pkgdata/pkgdata.cpp
--- a/intl/icu/source/tools/toolutil/flagparser.c
+++ b/intl/icu/source/tools/toolutil/flagparser.c
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@
     uprv_free(buffer);
 
     T_FileStream_close(f);
-    
-    if (U_FAILURE(*status)) {
+
+    if (U_FAILURE(*status) && *status != U_BUFFER_OVERFLOW_ERROR) {
         return -1;
     }