diff --git a/controllers/nginx/pkg/cmd/controller/nginx.go b/controllers/nginx/pkg/cmd/controller/nginx.go
index 456ffacf0..24a9a7046 100644
--- a/controllers/nginx/pkg/cmd/controller/nginx.go
+++ b/controllers/nginx/pkg/cmd/controller/nginx.go
@@ -132,10 +132,10 @@ NGINX master process died (%v): %v
 		// we wait until the workers are killed
 		for {
 			conn, err := net.DialTimeout("tcp", "127.0.0.1:80", 1*time.Second)
-			if err == nil {
-				conn.Close()
+			if err != nil {
 				break
 			}
+			conn.Close()
 			time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
 		}
 		// start a new nginx master process