diff --git a/libs/libc/misc/lib_tempbuffer.c b/libs/libc/misc/lib_tempbuffer.c
index fcf9e0f265e..470342e5211 100644
--- a/libs/libc/misc/lib_tempbuffer.c
+++ b/libs/libc/misc/lib_tempbuffer.c
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ FAR char *lib_get_tempbuffer(size_t nbytes)
 #ifdef CONFIG_LIBC_TEMPBUFFER_MALLOC
   return lib_malloc(nbytes);
 #else
+  _NX_SETERRNO(ENOMEM);
   return NULL;
 #endif
 }