diff --git a/pkg/util/iptables/iptables.go b/pkg/util/iptables/iptables.go
index 40fde4a1620..761e55c94a1 100644
--- a/pkg/util/iptables/iptables.go
+++ b/pkg/util/iptables/iptables.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
-	"io/ioutil"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
@@ -327,14 +326,15 @@ func (runner *runner) SaveInto(table Table, buffer *bytes.Buffer) error {
 	args := []string{"-t", string(table)}
 	klog.V(4).Infof("running %s %v", iptablesSaveCmd, args)
 	cmd := runner.exec.Command(iptablesSaveCmd, args...)
-	// Since CombinedOutput() doesn't support redirecting it to a buffer,
-	// we need to workaround it by redirecting stdout and stderr to buffer
-	// and explicitly calling Run() [CombinedOutput() underneath itself
-	// creates a new buffer, redirects stdout and stderr to it and also
-	// calls Run()].
 	cmd.SetStdout(buffer)
-	cmd.SetStderr(ioutil.Discard)
-	return cmd.Run()
+	stderrBuffer := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
+	cmd.SetStderr(stderrBuffer)
+
+	err := cmd.Run()
+	if err != nil {
+		stderrBuffer.WriteTo(buffer) // ignore error, since we need to return the original error
+	}
+	return err
 }
 
 // Restore is part of Interface.
diff --git a/pkg/util/iptables/iptables_test.go b/pkg/util/iptables/iptables_test.go
index 73240939ec6..dfc58095381 100644
--- a/pkg/util/iptables/iptables_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/iptables/iptables_test.go
@@ -943,7 +943,7 @@ COMMIT
 		},
 		RunScript: []fakeexec.FakeRunAction{
 			func() ([]byte, []byte, error) { return []byte(output), []byte(stderrOutput), nil },
-			func() ([]byte, []byte, error) { return nil, nil, &fakeexec.FakeExitError{Status: 1} },
+			func() ([]byte, []byte, error) { return nil, []byte(stderrOutput), &fakeexec.FakeExitError{Status: 1} },
 		},
 	}
 	fexec := fakeexec.FakeExec{
@@ -984,6 +984,9 @@ COMMIT
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Errorf("%s: Expected failure", protoStr)
 	}
+	if string(buffer.Bytes()) != stderrOutput {
+		t.Errorf("%s: Expected output '%s', got '%v'", protoStr, stderrOutput, string(buffer.Bytes()))
+	}
 }
 
 func TestSaveIntoIPv4(t *testing.T) {