diff --git a/internal/walker/rewriter.go b/internal/walker/rewriter.go
index 7df5911b8..f54b34c47 100644
--- a/internal/walker/rewriter.go
+++ b/internal/walker/rewriter.go
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ func (t *TreeRewriter) RewriteTree(ctx context.Context, loader restic.BlobLoader
 			return restic.ID{}, ctx.Err()
 		}
 		if item.Error != nil {
-			return restic.ID{}, err
+			return restic.ID{}, item.Error
 		}
 		node := item.Node