diff --git a/icu4c/source/tools/genrb/parse.c b/icu4c/source/tools/genrb/parse.c
index 5567b05d5ed..31a887c3746 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/tools/genrb/parse.c
+++ b/icu4c/source/tools/genrb/parse.c
@@ -203,16 +203,16 @@ expect(enum ETokenType expectedToken, struct UString **tokenValue, struct UStrin
 
     enum ETokenType token = getToken(tokenValue, comment, &line, status);
 
-    if (U_FAILURE(*status))
-    {
-        return;
-    }
-
     if (linenumber != NULL)
     {
         *linenumber = line;
     }
 
+    if (U_FAILURE(*status))
+    {
+        return;
+    }
+
     if (token != expectedToken)
     {
         *status = U_INVALID_FORMAT_ERROR;