Index: /trunk/src/VBox/Frontends/VBoxManage/VBoxManageControlVM.cpp
===================================================================
--- /trunk/src/VBox/Frontends/VBoxManage/VBoxManageControlVM.cpp	(revision 40672)
+++ /trunk/src/VBox/Frontends/VBoxManage/VBoxManageControlVM.cpp	(revision 40673)
@@ -182,11 +182,13 @@
                     MachineState_T machineState;
                     CHECK_ERROR_BREAK(console, COMGETTER(State)(&machineState));
+                    /* the error code was lost by the previous instruction */
+                    rc = VBOX_E_INVALID_VM_STATE;
                     if (machineState != MachineState_Paused)
                     {
                         RTMsgError("Machine in invalid state %d -- %s\n",
                                    machineState, machineStateToName(machineState, false));
-                        break;
-                    }
-                }
+                    }
+                }
+                break;
             }