diff --git a/src/apps/common/ppm_writer.cpp b/src/apps/common/ppm_writer.cpp
index 2e9378aa..368de8bf 100644
--- a/src/apps/common/ppm_writer.cpp
+++ b/src/apps/common/ppm_writer.cpp
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ int PPMWriter::write(const char *filename,
 	std::ofstream output(filename, std::ios::binary);
 	if (!output) {
 		std::cerr << "Failed to open ppm file: " << filename << std::endl;
-		return -EINVAL;
+		return -EIO;
 	}
 
 	output << "P6" << std::endl
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ int PPMWriter::write(const char *filename,
 	       << "255" << std::endl;
 	if (!output) {
 		std::cerr << "Failed to write the file header" << std::endl;
-		return -EINVAL;
+		return -EIO;
 	}
 
 	const unsigned int rowLength = config.size.width * 3;
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ int PPMWriter::write(const char *filename,
 		output.write(row, rowLength);
 		if (!output) {
 			std::cerr << "Failed to write image data at row " << y << std::endl;
-			return -EINVAL;
+			return -EIO;
 		}
 	}