diff --git a/kernel/rtlil.cc b/kernel/rtlil.cc
index d27eabc25..baf938660 100644
--- a/kernel/rtlil.cc
+++ b/kernel/rtlil.cc
@@ -1346,8 +1346,10 @@ void RTLIL::Design::add(RTLIL::Binding *binding)
 
 RTLIL::Module *RTLIL::Design::addModule(RTLIL::IdString name)
 {
-	if (modules_.count(name) != 0)
-		log_error("Attempted to add new module named '%s', but a module by that name already exists\n", name);
+	if (modules_.count(name) != 0) {
+		log_warning("Attempted to add new module named '%s', but a module by that name already exists\n", name);
+		return modules_.at(name);
+	}
 	log_assert(refcount_modules_ == 0);
 
 	RTLIL::Module *module = new RTLIL::Module;