diff --git a/src/hwcaps_freebsd_or_openbsd.c b/src/hwcaps_freebsd_or_openbsd.c
index 775afe74..13fd6ab2 100644
--- a/src/hwcaps_freebsd_or_openbsd.c
+++ b/src/hwcaps_freebsd_or_openbsd.c
@@ -30,11 +30,9 @@ const char* CpuFeatures_GetBasePlatformPointer(void);
 #include <sys/auxv.h>
 
 static unsigned long GetElfHwcapFromElfAuxInfo(int hwcap_type) {
-  unsigned long hwcap = 0;
-  // elf_aux_info() leaves the output buffer untouched when the requested entry
-  // is absent (e.g. AT_HWCAP2 on some arch/kernel combos), so initializing
-  // hwcap to 0 avoids returning an indeterminate value on failure.
-  elf_aux_info(hwcap_type, &hwcap, sizeof(hwcap));
+  unsigned long hwcap;
+  if (elf_aux_info(hwcap_type, &hwcap, sizeof(hwcap)) != 0)
+    hwcap = 0;
   return hwcap;
 }