diff --git a/library/service b/library/service
index 3ac3f5c8f72..e179e044371 100644
--- a/library/service
+++ b/library/service
@@ -752,7 +752,7 @@ class SunOSService(Service):
         rc, stdout, stderr = self.execute_command("%s -l %s" % (self.svcs_cmd, self.name))
 
         if rc != 0:
-            if err:
+            if stderr:
                 self.module.fail_json(msg=stderr)
             else:
                 self.module.fail_json(msg=stdout)