diff --git a/net/key/af_key.c b/net/key/af_key.c
index 9d47a6aa53dc..8b8e26a9e401 100644
--- a/net/key/af_key.c
+++ b/net/key/af_key.c
@@ -2713,7 +2713,7 @@ static int pfkey_spdflush(struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *skb, struct sadb_msg
 	audit_info.secid = 0;
 	err = xfrm_policy_flush(net, XFRM_POLICY_TYPE_MAIN, &audit_info);
 	if (err)
-		return err;
+		return 0;
 	c.data.type = XFRM_POLICY_TYPE_MAIN;
 	c.event = XFRM_MSG_FLUSHPOLICY;
 	c.pid = hdr->sadb_msg_pid;
diff --git a/net/xfrm/xfrm_policy.c b/net/xfrm/xfrm_policy.c
index 0ecb16a9a883..eb870fcc29cc 100644
--- a/net/xfrm/xfrm_policy.c
+++ b/net/xfrm/xfrm_policy.c
@@ -771,7 +771,8 @@ xfrm_policy_flush_secctx_check(struct net *net, u8 type, struct xfrm_audit *audi
 
 int xfrm_policy_flush(struct net *net, u8 type, struct xfrm_audit *audit_info)
 {
-	int dir, err = 0;
+	int dir, err = 0, cnt = 0;
+	struct xfrm_policy *dp;
 
 	write_lock_bh(&xfrm_policy_lock);
 
@@ -789,8 +790,10 @@ int xfrm_policy_flush(struct net *net, u8 type, struct xfrm_audit *audit_info)
 				     &net->xfrm.policy_inexact[dir], bydst) {
 			if (pol->type != type)
 				continue;
-			__xfrm_policy_unlink(pol, dir);
+			dp = __xfrm_policy_unlink(pol, dir);
 			write_unlock_bh(&xfrm_policy_lock);
+			if (dp)
+				cnt++;
 
 			xfrm_audit_policy_delete(pol, 1, audit_info->loginuid,
 						 audit_info->sessionid,
@@ -809,8 +812,10 @@ int xfrm_policy_flush(struct net *net, u8 type, struct xfrm_audit *audit_info)
 					     bydst) {
 				if (pol->type != type)
 					continue;
-				__xfrm_policy_unlink(pol, dir);
+				dp = __xfrm_policy_unlink(pol, dir);
 				write_unlock_bh(&xfrm_policy_lock);
+				if (dp)
+					cnt++;
 
 				xfrm_audit_policy_delete(pol, 1,
 							 audit_info->loginuid,
@@ -824,6 +829,8 @@ int xfrm_policy_flush(struct net *net, u8 type, struct xfrm_audit *audit_info)
 		}
 
 	}
+	if (!cnt)
+		err = -ESRCH;
 	atomic_inc(&flow_cache_genid);
 out:
 	write_unlock_bh(&xfrm_policy_lock);
diff --git a/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c b/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c
index 7c8700447040..b0fb7d3bc15e 100644
--- a/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c
+++ b/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c
@@ -1677,7 +1677,7 @@ static int xfrm_flush_policy(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 	audit_info.secid = NETLINK_CB(skb).sid;
 	err = xfrm_policy_flush(net, type, &audit_info);
 	if (err)
-		return err;
+		return 0;
 	c.data.type = type;
 	c.event = nlh->nlmsg_type;
 	c.seq = nlh->nlmsg_seq;