diff --git a/src/_imaging.c b/src/_imaging.c
index 7e9c0e391c8..ada8c594b5c 100644
--- a/src/_imaging.c
+++ b/src/_imaging.c
@@ -2504,7 +2504,7 @@ _split(ImagingObject *self, PyObject *args) {
     PyObject *imaging_object;
     Imaging bands[4] = {NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL};
 
-    if (!ImagingSplit(self->image, bands)) {
+    if (ImagingSplit(self->image, bands)) {
         return NULL;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/libImaging/Bands.c b/src/libImaging/Bands.c
index d1fa16addff..92999a5ddd8 100644
--- a/src/libImaging/Bands.c
+++ b/src/libImaging/Bands.c
@@ -75,13 +75,13 @@ ImagingSplit(Imaging imIn, Imaging bands[4]) {
     /* Check arguments */
     if (!imIn || imIn->type != IMAGING_TYPE_UINT8) {
         (void)ImagingError_ModeError();
-        return 0;
+        return -1;
     }
 
     /* Shortcuts */
     if (imIn->bands == 1) {
         bands[0] = ImagingCopy(imIn);
-        return imIn->bands;
+        return 0;
     }
 
     for (i = 0; i < imIn->bands; i++) {
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ ImagingSplit(Imaging imIn, Imaging bands[4]) {
             for (j = 0; j < i; ++j) {
                 ImagingDelete(bands[j]);
             }
-            return 0;
+            return -1;
         }
     }
 
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ ImagingSplit(Imaging imIn, Imaging bands[4]) {
         }
     }
 
-    return imIn->bands;
+    return 0;
 }
 
 Imaging