diff --git a/llvm/lib/Object/ArchiveWriter.cpp b/llvm/lib/Object/ArchiveWriter.cpp
--- a/llvm/lib/Object/ArchiveWriter.cpp
+++ b/llvm/lib/Object/ArchiveWriter.cpp
@@ -362,11 +362,8 @@
   if (identify_magic(Buf.getBuffer()) == file_magic::bitcode) {
     auto ObjOrErr = object::SymbolicFile::createSymbolicFile(
         Buf, file_magic::bitcode, &Context);
-    if (!ObjOrErr) {
-      // FIXME: check only for "not an object file" errors.
-      consumeError(ObjOrErr.takeError());
-      return Ret;
-    }
+    if (auto E = ObjOrErr.takeError())
+      return std::move(E);
     Obj = std::move(*ObjOrErr);
   } else {
     auto ObjOrErr = object::SymbolicFile::createSymbolicFile(Buf);
diff --git a/llvm/test/tools/llvm-ar/invalid-bitcode.test b/llvm/test/tools/llvm-ar/invalid-bitcode.test
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/llvm/test/tools/llvm-ar/invalid-bitcode.test
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+; RUN: printf "\xDE\xC0\x17\x0B" > %t.o
+; RUN: not llvm-ar cr %t.a %t.o 2>&1 | grep "Invalid bitcode wrapper header"