diff --git a/libs/ardour/sndfile_helpers.cc b/libs/ardour/sndfile_helpers.cc
index 64a05e4734..4ea4a4b5b2 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/sndfile_helpers.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/sndfile_helpers.cc
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ libsndfile:
 
 	sf_info.format = 0; // libsndfile says to clear this before sf_open().
 
-	if ((sf = sf_open ((char*) path.c_str(), SFM_READ, &sf_info)) < 0) { 
+	if ((sf = sf_open ((char*) path.c_str(), SFM_READ, &sf_info)) == 0) { 
 		return false;
 	}