diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-whitespace.yaml b/.github/workflows/check-whitespace.yaml
index a497102d7..e76bd1530 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check-whitespace.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-whitespace.yaml
@@ -18,12 +18,12 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         echo "## Whitespace Check Results" >${GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY}
         echo '```' >>${GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY}
+        err=0
         commit=
         while read dash hash subj
         do
           case "${dash}" in
           "---")
-            err=0
             commit="${hash} (\"${subj}\")"
             ;;
           "")