diff --git a/cmd/sata.c b/cmd/sata.c
index d18b5233e6..f56622acc2 100644
--- a/cmd/sata.c
+++ b/cmd/sata.c
@@ -32,9 +32,12 @@ static int do_sata(cmd_tbl_t *cmdtp, int flag, int argc, char * const argv[])
 	}
 
 	/* If the user has not yet run `sata init`, do it now */
-	if (sata_curr_device == -1)
-		if (sata_initialize())
-			return 1;
+	if (sata_curr_device == -1) {
+		rc = sata_initialize();
+		if (rc == -1)
+			return rc;
+		sata_curr_device = rc;
+	}
 
 	switch (argc) {
 	case 0:
diff --git a/common/sata.c b/common/sata.c
index 88f08c95ec..42ff5c7755 100644
--- a/common/sata.c
+++ b/common/sata.c
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ static unsigned long sata_bwrite(struct blk_desc *block_dev, lbaint_t start,
 
 int __sata_initialize(void)
 {
-	int rc;
+	int rc, ret = -1;
 	int i;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < CONFIG_SYS_SATA_MAX_DEVICE; i++) {
@@ -71,12 +71,14 @@ int __sata_initialize(void)
 		if (!rc) {
 			rc = scan_sata(i);
 			if (!rc && sata_dev_desc[i].lba > 0 &&
-			    sata_dev_desc[i].blksz > 0)
+			    sata_dev_desc[i].blksz > 0) {
 				part_init(&sata_dev_desc[i]);
+				ret = i;
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
-	return rc;
+	return ret;
 }
 int sata_initialize(void) __attribute__((weak, alias("__sata_initialize")));