diff --git a/src/wp-includes/http.php b/src/wp-includes/http.php
index 36922da60e..3356b97162 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/http.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/http.php
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@ function wp_http_validate_url( $url ) {
 		} else {
 			$ip = gethostbyname( $host );
 			if ( $ip === $host ) { // Error condition for gethostbyname()
-				$ip = false;
+				return false;
 			}
 		}
 		if ( $ip ) {