diff --git a/meta/classes/kernel-yocto.bbclass b/meta/classes/kernel-yocto.bbclass
index 50226f6d49..1ca0756c49 100644
--- a/meta/classes/kernel-yocto.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes/kernel-yocto.bbclass
@@ -281,7 +281,8 @@ do_kernel_configme() {
 
 	meta_dir=$(kgit --meta)
 	configs="$(scc --configs -o ${meta_dir})"
-	if [ -z "${configs}" ]; then
+	if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+		bberror "${configs}"
 		bbfatal_log "Could not find configuration queue (${meta_dir}/config.queue)"
 	fi