diff --git a/hack/lib/golang.sh b/hack/lib/golang.sh
index 9bef0029f29..7dc0d91b060 100755
--- a/hack/lib/golang.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/golang.sh
@@ -496,7 +496,8 @@ kube::golang::outfile_for_binary() {
 # Returns 0 if the binary can be built with coverage, 1 otherwise.
 # NB: this ignores whether coverage is globally enabled or not.
 kube::golang::is_instrumented_package() {
-  return "$(kube::util::array_contains "$1" "${KUBE_COVERAGE_INSTRUMENTED_PACKAGES[@]}")"
+  kube::util::array_contains "$1" "${KUBE_COVERAGE_INSTRUMENTED_PACKAGES[@]}"
+  return $?
 }
 
 # Argument: the name of a Kubernetes package (e.g. k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kube-scheduler)