diff --git a/src/core/census/initialize.c b/src/core/census/initialize.c
index 8d60f790eb78813f75858e8e6ca772eaa7d5bea3..989708d42cd8a74fb15ba94ce4367114492a018b 100644
--- a/src/core/census/initialize.c
+++ b/src/core/census/initialize.c
@@ -39,12 +39,11 @@ int census_initialize(int features) {
   if (features_enabled != CENSUS_FEATURE_NONE) {
     return 1;
   }
-  if (features != CENSUS_FEATURE_NONE) {
+  if (features == CENSUS_FEATURE_NONE) {
     return 1;
-  } else {
-    features_enabled = features;
-    return 0;
   }
+  features_enabled = features;
+  return 0;
 }
 
 void census_shutdown(void) { features_enabled = CENSUS_FEATURE_NONE; }