diff --git a/Documentation/guides/pipeline-handler.rst b/Documentation/guides/pipeline-handler.rst
index 083cdb745..b33d8b857 100644
--- a/Documentation/guides/pipeline-handler.rst
+++ b/Documentation/guides/pipeline-handler.rst
@@ -1076,7 +1076,7 @@ device:
    ret = data->video_->setControls(&controls);
    if (ret) {
           LOG(VIVID, Error) << "Failed to set controls: " << ret;
-          return ret < 0 ? ret : -EINVAL;
+          return ret;
    }
 
 These controls configure VIVID to use a default test pattern, and enable all
@@ -1285,10 +1285,8 @@ before being set.
                         << " to " << ctrl.second.toString();
 
           int ret = data->video_->setControls(&controls);
-          if (ret) {
+          if (ret)
                  LOG(VIVID, Error) << "Failed to set controls: " << ret;
-                 return ret < 0 ? ret : -EINVAL;
-          }
 
           return ret;
    }
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/uvcvideo/uvcvideo.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/uvcvideo/uvcvideo.cpp
index 3bd51733d..3435a7604 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/uvcvideo/uvcvideo.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/uvcvideo/uvcvideo.cpp
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ int PipelineHandlerUVC::processControls(UVCCameraData *data, const ControlList &
 	int ret = data->video_->setControls(&controls);
 	if (ret) {
 		LOG(UVC, Error) << "Failed to set controls: " << ret;
-		return ret < 0 ? ret : -EINVAL;
+		return ret;
 	}
 
 	return ret;
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/vimc/vimc.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/vimc/vimc.cpp
index 08b100752..716f90818 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/vimc/vimc.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/vimc/vimc.cpp
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ int PipelineHandlerVimc::processControls(VimcCameraData *data, Request *request)
 	int ret = data->sensor_->setControls(&controls);
 	if (ret) {
 		LOG(VIMC, Error) << "Failed to set controls: " << ret;
-		return ret < 0 ? ret : -EINVAL;
+		return ret;
 	}
 
 	return ret;
diff --git a/src/libcamera/sensor/camera_sensor.cpp b/src/libcamera/sensor/camera_sensor.cpp
index 05390d1e1..602518afc 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/sensor/camera_sensor.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/sensor/camera_sensor.cpp
@@ -379,21 +379,8 @@ int CameraSensor::setEmbeddedDataEnabled(bool enable)
  * ctrls entry. The control identifiers are defined by the V4L2 specification
  * (V4L2_CID_*).
  *
- * If any control in \a ctrls is not supported by the device, is disabled (i.e.
- * has the V4L2_CTRL_FLAG_DISABLED flag set), is read-only, or if any other
- * error occurs during validation of the requested controls, no control is
- * written and this function returns -EINVAL.
- *
- * If an error occurs while writing the controls, the index of the first
- * control that couldn't be written is returned. All controls below that index
- * are written and their values are updated in \a ctrls, while all other
- * controls are not written and their values are not changed.
- *
- * \sa V4L2Device::setControls()
- *
  * \return 0 on success or an error code otherwise
- * \retval -EINVAL One of the control is not supported or not accessible
- * \retval i The index of the control that failed
+ * \sa V4L2Device::setControls()
  */
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/libcamera/v4l2_device.cpp b/src/libcamera/v4l2_device.cpp
index b49d73b1c..53bd7865a 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/v4l2_device.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/v4l2_device.cpp
@@ -285,18 +285,16 @@ ControlList V4L2Device::getControls(Span<const uint32_t> ids, const V4L2Request
  * \param[in] request An optional request
  *
  * This function writes the value of all controls contained in \a ctrls, and
- * stores the values actually applied to the device in the corresponding
- * \a ctrls entry.
+ * updates \a ctrls with the values actually applied to the device.
  *
  * If any control in \a ctrls is not supported by the device, is disabled (i.e.
  * has the V4L2_CTRL_FLAG_DISABLED flag set), is read-only, if any other error
  * occurs during validation of the requested controls, no control is written and
  * this function returns -EINVAL.
  *
- * If an error occurs while writing the controls, the index of the first
- * control that couldn't be written is returned. All controls below that index
- * are written and their values are updated in \a ctrls, while all other
- * controls are not written and their values are not changed.
+ * If an error occurs while writing the controls, -EIO is returned. All controls
+ * that were successfully written have their values are updated in \a ctrls,
+ * while all other controls are not written and their values are not changed.
  *
  * If \a request is set, the controls will be applied to that request. If the
  * device doesn't support requests, -EACCESS will be returned. If \a request is
@@ -304,8 +302,8 @@ ControlList V4L2Device::getControls(Span<const uint32_t> ids, const V4L2Request
  *
  * \return 0 on success or an error code otherwise
  * \retval -EINVAL One of the controls is not supported or not accessible
+ * \retval -EIO One or more controls were rejected by the device
  * \retval -EACCESS The device does not support requests
- * \retval i The index of the control that failed
  */
 int V4L2Device::setControls(ControlList *ctrls, const V4L2Request *request)
 {
@@ -419,7 +417,7 @@ int V4L2Device::setControls(ControlList *ctrls, const V4L2Request *request)
 				 << ": " << strerror(-ret);
 
 		v4l2Ctrls.resize(errorIdx);
-		ret = errorIdx;
+		ret = -EIO;
 	}
 
 	updateControls(ctrls, v4l2Ctrls);