diff --git a/lib/fs.js b/lib/fs.js
index 56acc657912..da718f3f334 100644
--- a/lib/fs.js
+++ b/lib/fs.js
@@ -1161,6 +1161,11 @@ fs.readlinkSync = function(path, options) {
                                   options.encoding, undefined, ctx);
   if (ctx.errno !== undefined) {
     throw errors.uvException(ctx);
+  } else if (ctx.error) {
+    // TODO(joyeecheung): this is an encoding error usually caused by memory
+    // problems. We need to figure out proper error code(s) for this.
+    Error.captureStackTrace(ctx.error);
+    throw ctx.error;
   }
   return result;
 };
@@ -1232,11 +1237,6 @@ fs.symlinkSync = function(target, path, type) {
 
   if (ctx.errno !== undefined) {
     throw errors.uvException(ctx);
-  } else if (ctx.error) {
-    // TODO(joyeecheung): this is an encoding error usually caused by memory
-    // problems. We need to figure out proper error code(s) for this.
-    Error.captureStackTrace(ctx.error);
-    throw ctx.error;
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/src/node_file.cc b/src/node_file.cc
index a77dc0a9867..62dd5fe80cf 100644
--- a/src/node_file.cc
+++ b/src/node_file.cc
@@ -886,7 +886,7 @@ static void ReadLink(const FunctionCallbackInfo<Value>& args) {
     fs_req_wrap req;
     int err = SyncCall(env, args[3], &req, "readlink",
                        uv_fs_readlink, *path);
-    if (err) {
+    if (err < 0) {
       return;  // syscall failed, no need to continue, error info is in ctx
     }
     const char* link_path = static_cast<const char*>(req.req.ptr);