diff --git a/packaging/portage b/packaging/portage
index c9f3f24bdab..a780e7444ec 100644
--- a/packaging/portage
+++ b/packaging/portage
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ def query_set(module, set, action):
 
 def sync_repositories(module, webrsync=False):
     if module.check_mode:
-        module.fail_json(msg='check mode not supported by sync')
+        module.exit_json(msg='check mode not supported by sync')
 
     if webrsync:
         webrsync_path = module.get_bin_path('emerge-webrsync', required=True)