diff --git a/src/libmongoc/src/mongoc/mongoc-bulkwrite.c b/src/libmongoc/src/mongoc/mongoc-bulkwrite.c
index 233ea6c83f0..16d2566afde 100644
--- a/src/libmongoc/src/mongoc/mongoc-bulkwrite.c
+++ b/src/libmongoc/src/mongoc/mongoc-bulkwrite.c
@@ -1326,6 +1326,7 @@ _bulkwritereturn_apply_reply (mongoc_bulkwritereturn_t *self, const bson_t *cmd_
          if (!_mongoc_iter_document_as_bson (&wce_iter, &errInfo, &error)) {
             _bulkwriteexception_set_error (self->exc, &error);
             _bulkwriteexception_set_error_reply (self->exc, cmd_reply);
+            return false;
          }
       }