diff --git a/kafka/channel/pkg/dispatcher/dispatcher.go b/kafka/channel/pkg/dispatcher/dispatcher.go
index c2ee34661d..561e91ae45 100644
--- a/kafka/channel/pkg/dispatcher/dispatcher.go
+++ b/kafka/channel/pkg/dispatcher/dispatcher.go
@@ -81,7 +81,9 @@ type consumerMessageHandler struct {
 
 func (c consumerMessageHandler) Handle(ctx context.Context, message *sarama.ConsumerMessage) (bool, error) {
 	event := fromKafkaMessage(ctx, message)
-	return true, c.dispatcher.DispatchEventWithDelivery(ctx, *event, c.sub.SubscriberURI, c.sub.ReplyURI, &c.sub.Delivery)
+	err := c.dispatcher.DispatchEventWithDelivery(ctx, *event, c.sub.SubscriberURI, c.sub.ReplyURI, &c.sub.Delivery)
+	// NOTE: only return `true` here if DispatchEventWithDelivery actually delivered the message.
+	return err == nil, err
 }
 
 var _ kafka.KafkaConsumerHandler = (*consumerMessageHandler)(nil)