diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/openstack/openstack_loadbalancer.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/openstack/openstack_loadbalancer.go
index 25c86a09677..0a4c7b5a363 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/openstack/openstack_loadbalancer.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/legacy-cloud-providers/openstack/openstack_loadbalancer.go
@@ -999,9 +999,7 @@ func (lbaas *LbaasV2) EnsureLoadBalancer(ctx context.Context, clusterName string
 	if lbaas.opts.ManageSecurityGroups {
 		err := lbaas.ensureSecurityGroup(clusterName, apiService, nodes, loadbalancer)
 		if err != nil {
-			// cleanup what was created so far
-			_ = lbaas.EnsureLoadBalancerDeleted(ctx, clusterName, apiService)
-			return status, err
+			return status, fmt.Errorf("Error reconciling security groups for LB service %v/%v: %v", apiService.Namespace, apiService.Name, err)
 		}
 	}