diff --git a/src/cmd/gofmt/gofmt.go b/src/cmd/gofmt/gofmt.go
index f4fb6bff844..341c79ab8e5 100644
--- a/src/cmd/gofmt/gofmt.go
+++ b/src/cmd/gofmt/gofmt.go
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ func backupFile(filename string, data []byte, perm fs.FileMode) (string, error)
 		if err == nil {
 			break
 		}
-		if err != nil && !os.IsExist(err) {
+		if !os.IsExist(err) {
 			return "", err
 		}
 	}