diff --git a/src/cmd/ksh93/edit/emacs.c b/src/cmd/ksh93/edit/emacs.c
index e26601822..ba94cf4c3 100644
--- a/src/cmd/ksh93/edit/emacs.c
+++ b/src/cmd/ksh93/edit/emacs.c
@@ -1163,8 +1163,9 @@ static int escape(register Emacs_t* ep,register genchar *out,int count)
 				return(-1);
 #   endif /* ESH_BETTER */
 			beep();
-			return(-1);
+			/* FALLTHROUGH */
 	}
+	return(-1);
 }