diff --git a/includes/database.pear.inc b/includes/database.pear.inc
index 7f3da1a0021b8ecbf9dd69ad7a311c9022c67c0f..c0aeb9b7e2273e5923242367d194a6d5e48b65f4 100644
--- a/includes/database.pear.inc
+++ b/includes/database.pear.inc
@@ -27,8 +27,9 @@ function db_query($query, $debug = 0) {
   if (DB::isError($result)) {
     watchdog("error", "database: ". $result->getMessage() ."\nquery: ". htmlspecialchars($query));
   }
-
-  return $result;
+  else {
+    return $result;
+  }
 }
 
 function db_fetch_object($result) {