diff --git a/src/modules/uORB/uORB.cpp b/src/modules/uORB/uORB.cpp
index 3d959b03dd..bbce4e9769 100644
--- a/src/modules/uORB/uORB.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/uORB/uORB.cpp
@@ -133,6 +133,8 @@ int orb_publish_auto(const struct orb_metadata *meta, orb_advert_t *handle, cons
 	} else {
 		return orb_publish(meta, handle, data);
 	}
+
+	return -1;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/modules/uORB/uORB.h b/src/modules/uORB/uORB.h
index 2f4f7af0c9..afab3cd813 100644
--- a/src/modules/uORB/uORB.h
+++ b/src/modules/uORB/uORB.h
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ extern orb_advert_t orb_advertise_multi(const struct orb_metadata *meta, const v
  * @return	zero on success, error number on failure
  */
 extern int orb_publish_auto(const struct orb_metadata *meta, orb_advert_t *handle, const void *data, int *instance,
-			    int priority)
+			    int priority);
 
 /**
  * Publish new data to a topic.