diff --git a/guix/gnu-maintenance.scm b/guix/gnu-maintenance.scm
index 41e0f4443d..5a84fcb117 100644
--- a/guix/gnu-maintenance.scm
+++ b/guix/gnu-maintenance.scm
@@ -600,7 +600,7 @@ (define* (rewrite-url url version #:key to-version)
                                        links)))
                      ;; Retrieve the item having the largest version.
                      (if (null? candidates)
-                         (error "no candidates found in rewrite-url")
+                         parents
                          (cons (cdr (first (sort candidates
                                                  (lambda (x y)
                                                    (version>? (car x)