diff --git a/src/core/emergency-action.c b/src/core/emergency-action.c
index f98b0de792..9731aef5c4 100644
--- a/src/core/emergency-action.c
+++ b/src/core/emergency-action.c
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ static void log_and_status(Manager *m, bool warn, const char *message, const cha
                                       "%s: %s", message, reason);
 }
 
-int emergency_action(
+void emergency_action(
                 Manager *m,
                 EmergencyAction action,
                 EmergencyActionFlags options,
@@ -33,11 +33,11 @@ int emergency_action(
         assert(action < _EMERGENCY_ACTION_MAX);
 
         if (action == EMERGENCY_ACTION_NONE)
-                return -ECANCELED;
+                return;
 
         if (FLAGS_SET(options, EMERGENCY_ACTION_IS_WATCHDOG) && !m->service_watchdogs) {
                 log_warning("Watchdog disabled! Not acting on: %s", reason);
-                return -ECANCELED;
+                return;
         }
 
         bool warn = FLAGS_SET(options, EMERGENCY_ACTION_WARN);
@@ -125,8 +125,6 @@ int emergency_action(
         default:
                 assert_not_reached("Unknown emergency action");
         }
-
-        return -ECANCELED;
 }
 
 static const char* const emergency_action_table[_EMERGENCY_ACTION_MAX] = {
diff --git a/src/core/emergency-action.h b/src/core/emergency-action.h
index 6e6c69ddfc..706c38a7d7 100644
--- a/src/core/emergency-action.h
+++ b/src/core/emergency-action.h
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@ typedef enum EmergencyActionFlags {
 #include "macro.h"
 #include "manager.h"
 
-int emergency_action(Manager *m,
-                     EmergencyAction action, EmergencyActionFlags options,
-                     const char *reboot_arg, int exit_status, const char *reason);
+void emergency_action(Manager *m,
+                      EmergencyAction action, EmergencyActionFlags options,
+                      const char *reboot_arg, int exit_status, const char *reason);
 
 const char* emergency_action_to_string(EmergencyAction i) _const_;
 EmergencyAction emergency_action_from_string(const char *s) _pure_;
diff --git a/src/core/unit.c b/src/core/unit.c
index 96b520f3d1..1ce7ceb3e1 100644
--- a/src/core/unit.c
+++ b/src/core/unit.c
@@ -1682,9 +1682,11 @@ int unit_test_start_limit(Unit *u) {
 
         reason = strjoina("unit ", u->id, " failed");
 
-        return emergency_action(u->manager, u->start_limit_action,
-                                EMERGENCY_ACTION_IS_WATCHDOG|EMERGENCY_ACTION_WARN,
-                                u->reboot_arg, -1, reason);
+        emergency_action(u->manager, u->start_limit_action,
+                         EMERGENCY_ACTION_IS_WATCHDOG|EMERGENCY_ACTION_WARN,
+                         u->reboot_arg, -1, reason);
+
+        return -ECANCELED;
 }
 
 bool unit_shall_confirm_spawn(Unit *u) {
@@ -2511,10 +2513,10 @@ void unit_notify(Unit *u, UnitActiveState os, UnitActiveState ns, UnitNotifyFlag
 
                 if (os != UNIT_FAILED && ns == UNIT_FAILED) {
                         reason = strjoina("unit ", u->id, " failed");
-                        (void) emergency_action(m, u->failure_action, 0, u->reboot_arg, unit_failure_action_exit_status(u), reason);
+                        emergency_action(m, u->failure_action, 0, u->reboot_arg, unit_failure_action_exit_status(u), reason);
                 } else if (!UNIT_IS_INACTIVE_OR_FAILED(os) && ns == UNIT_INACTIVE) {
                         reason = strjoina("unit ", u->id, " succeeded");
-                        (void) emergency_action(m, u->success_action, 0, u->reboot_arg, unit_success_action_exit_status(u), reason);
+                        emergency_action(m, u->success_action, 0, u->reboot_arg, unit_success_action_exit_status(u), reason);
                 }
         }