diff --git a/src/demo/normal.c b/src/demo/normal.c
index 5d38dfd9f..332bb0a4e 100644
--- a/src/demo/normal.c
+++ b/src/demo/normal.c
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ int normal_demo(struct notcurses* nc){
   if(notcurses_canutf8(nc)){
     ncplane_erase(nstd);
     ncplane_home(n);
-    if(rotate_plane(nc, n)){
+    if( (r = rotate_plane(nc, n)) ){
       goto err;
     }
   }