diff --git a/gnu/usr.bin/man/catman/catman.perl b/gnu/usr.bin/man/catman/catman.perl
index 947dc4c2421..5b51d2ff39d 100644
--- a/gnu/usr.bin/man/catman/catman.perl
+++ b/gnu/usr.bin/man/catman/catman.perl
@@ -420,6 +420,8 @@ sub short_locale_name {
 
   $lname =~ s|_[A-Z][A-Z]||;
   warn "short locale name is $lname\n" if $verbose && $locale;
+
+  return $lname;
 }
 
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