*ctx = malloc(sizeof(**ctx));
        if (*ctx == NULL) {
                fatal("cannot allocate the context (%s)\n", strerror(errno));
-               ret = -ENOMEM;
-               goto out;
+               return -ENOMEM;
        }
        memset(*ctx, 0, sizeof(**ctx));
 
        int ret;
        struct am7xxx_header h;
 
-       if (dev->device_info) {
-               memcpy(device_info, dev->device_info, sizeof(*device_info));
-               return 0;
-       }
+       /* if there is a cached copy of the device info, just return that */
+       if (dev->device_info)
+               goto return_value;
 
        ret = send_command(dev, AM7XXX_PACKET_TYPE_DEVINFO);
        if (ret < 0)
        dev->device_info->unknown1 = h.header_data.devinfo.unknown1;
 #endif
 
+return_value:
+       if (device_info)
+               memcpy(device_info, dev->device_info, sizeof(*device_info));
        return 0;
 }