diff --git a/libbeat/outputs/kafka/partition.go b/libbeat/outputs/kafka/partition.go
index 5197bbef686..34e962bb075 100644
--- a/libbeat/outputs/kafka/partition.go
+++ b/libbeat/outputs/kafka/partition.go
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ func (p *messagePartitioner) Partition(
 
 	partition, err := p.p(msg, numPartitions)
 	if err != nil {
-		return 0, nil //nolint:errorlint
+		return 0, nil //nolint:nilerr
 	}
 
 	msg.partition = partition