diff --git a/hbase-thrift/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/thrift/ThriftHttpServlet.java b/hbase-thrift/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/thrift/ThriftHttpServlet.java
index 25c6da3fbdb..f3bed0a8923 100644
--- a/hbase-thrift/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/thrift/ThriftHttpServlet.java
+++ b/hbase-thrift/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/thrift/ThriftHttpServlet.java
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ public class ThriftHttpServlet extends TServlet {
         // Send a 401 to the client
         response.setStatus(HttpServletResponse.SC_UNAUTHORIZED);
         response.getWriter().println("Authentication Error: " + e.getMessage());
+        return;
       }
     }
     String doAsUserFromQuery = request.getHeader("doAs");