diff --git a/ares/ares_gethostbyname.c b/ares/ares_gethostbyname.c
index 8610cba632694cc9d6a9cb993de58e5ca1d29cce..7c39ad12003a2a68018d2a69c696b8cadbb843d8 100644
--- a/ares/ares_gethostbyname.c
+++ b/ares/ares_gethostbyname.c
@@ -138,7 +138,11 @@ static void next_lookup(struct host_query *hquery, int status_code)
         case 'f':
           /* Host file lookup */
           status = file_lookup(hquery->name, hquery->family, &host);
-          if (status != ARES_ENOTFOUND)
+
+          /* this status check below previously checked for !ARES_ENOTFOUND,
+             but we should not assume that this single error code is the one
+             that can occur, as that is in fact no longer the case */
+          if (status == ARES_SUCCESS)
             {
               end_hquery(hquery, status, host);
               return;