diff --git a/panda/src/glstuff/glShaderContext_src.cxx b/panda/src/glstuff/glShaderContext_src.cxx
index d61d75beb6..618b228754 100644
--- a/panda/src/glstuff/glShaderContext_src.cxx
+++ b/panda/src/glstuff/glShaderContext_src.cxx
@@ -3306,7 +3306,7 @@ glsl_compile_and_link() {
   }
 
   _glgsg->report_my_gl_errors();
-  return true;
+  return valid;
 }
 
 #endif  // OPENGLES_1