> I'll rework the explicit-return patch to send without this
> change. It'll be a little trickier but should be entirely doable.

An explicit return would be a nice improvement.

On the other hand, if it is tricky and requires something more than minor surgery, that would be a hint that it isn't worth it.  There is some value in code that is stable and known to be working just fine.  See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_are_known_knowns