diff --git a/src/slurmctld/backup.c b/src/slurmctld/backup.c
index 051ff8052b9b6017efa738ac1648dd4473bdb307..c78603520c0cb5306c89b633c782ad7a82cc36c8 100644
--- a/src/slurmctld/backup.c
+++ b/src/slurmctld/backup.c
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@
 static int          _background_process_msg(slurm_msg_t * msg);
 static void *       _background_rpc_mgr(void *no_data);
 static void *       _background_signal_hand(void *no_data);
-static int          _backup_reconfig(void);
+static void         _backup_reconfig(void);
 static int          _ping_controller(void);
 static int          _shutdown_primary_controller(int wait_time);
 static void	     _trigger_slurmctld_event(uint32_t trig_type);
@@ -278,14 +278,9 @@ static void *_background_signal_hand(void *no_data)
 			 * restart the (possibly new) plugin.
 			 */
 			lock_slurmctld(config_write_lock);
-			rc = _backup_reconfig();
-			if (rc)
-				error("_backup_reconfig: %s",
-					slurm_strerror(rc));
-			else {
-				/* Leave config lock set through this */
-				_update_cred_key();
-			}
+			_backup_reconfig();
+			/* Leave config lock set through this */
+			_update_cred_key();
 			unlock_slurmctld(config_write_lock);
 			break;
 		case SIGABRT:   /* abort */
@@ -477,12 +472,12 @@ static int _ping_controller(void)
  * upon old job state information.
  * This is a stripped down version of read_slurm_conf(0).
  */
-static int _backup_reconfig(void)
+static void _backup_reconfig(void)
 {
 	slurm_conf_reinit(NULL);
 	update_logging();
 	slurmctld_conf.last_update = time(NULL);
-	return SLURM_SUCCESS;
+	return;
 }
 
 /*