diff --git a/include/functions b/include/functions
index 0a19f11c..b6cdc3bf 100644
--- a/include/functions
+++ b/include/functions
@@ -2209,12 +2209,13 @@
     # Description : Search if a specific string exists in in a file
     #
     # Input       : $1 = search key (string), $2 = file (string)
-    # Returns     : <nothing>
+    # Returns     : True (0) or False (1) 
     ################################################################################
 
     SearchItem()  {
-         ITEM_FOUND=0
-         if [ $# -eq 2 ]; then
+        ITEM_FOUND=0
+        RETVAL=1
+        if [ $# -eq 2 ]; then
             # Don't search in /dev/null, it's too empty there
             if [ -f $2 ]; then
                 # Check if we can find the main type (with or without brackets)
@@ -2224,16 +2225,19 @@
                     ITEM_FOUND=1
                     LogText "Result: found string"
                     LogText "Full string: ${FIND}"
+                    RETVAL=0
                  else
                     LogText "Result: search string NOT found"
+                    RETVAL=1
                 fi
               else
                 LogText "Skipping search, file does not exist"
                 ReportException ${TEST_NO} "Test is trying to search for a string in nonexistent file"
             fi
-          else
+        else
             ReportException ${TEST_NO} "Error in function call to CheckItem"
-         fi
+        fi
+        return ${RETVAL}
     }