diff --git a/pkg/controller/v1beta1/inferenceservice/controller.go b/pkg/controller/v1beta1/inferenceservice/controller.go
index d4d383d4bf7..dfdce7dd119 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/v1beta1/inferenceservice/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/v1beta1/inferenceservice/controller.go
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ func (r *InferenceServiceReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Req
 	// Abort early if the resolved deployment mode is Serverless, but Knative Services are not available
 	if deploymentMode == constants.Serverless {
 		ksvcAvailable, checkKsvcErr := utils.IsCrdAvailable(r.ClientConfig, knservingv1.SchemeGroupVersion.String(), constants.KnativeServiceKind)
-		if err != nil {
+		if checkKsvcErr != nil {
 			return reconcile.Result{}, checkKsvcErr
 		}