diff --git a/usr.bin/tail/forward.c b/usr.bin/tail/forward.c
index 8e32cc45ab7..830d6aa20a7 100644
--- a/usr.bin/tail/forward.c
+++ b/usr.bin/tail/forward.c
@@ -136,7 +136,8 @@ forward(fp, style, off, sbp)
 				return;
 			}
 		} else
-			bytes(fp, off);
+			if (bytes(fp, off))
+				return;
 		break;
 	case RLINES:
 		if (S_ISREG(sbp->st_mode))
@@ -154,7 +155,8 @@ forward(fp, style, off, sbp)
 				return;
 			}
 		} else
-			lines(fp, off);
+			if (lines(fp, off))
+				return;
 		break;
 	}
 
diff --git a/usr.bin/tail/read.c b/usr.bin/tail/read.c
index 94f3f0b515a..2b60918ae6f 100644
--- a/usr.bin/tail/read.c
+++ b/usr.bin/tail/read.c
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ bytes(fp, off)
 		if (len = p - sp)
 			WR(sp, len);
 	}
+	return 0;
 }
 
 /*
@@ -195,4 +196,5 @@ lines(fp, off)
 		for (cnt = 0; cnt < recno; ++cnt)
 			WR(lines[cnt].l, lines[cnt].len);
 	}
+	return 0;
 }