diff --git a/error_templates/java/missing_return_error.go b/error_templates/java/missing_return_error.go
index 35b5b37..6e79ca6 100644
--- a/error_templates/java/missing_return_error.go
+++ b/error_templates/java/missing_return_error.go
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ var MissingReturnError = lib.ErrorTemplate{
 			// nearest sym will be at the last
 			valueToReturn := getDefaultValueForType(expectedTypeSym)
 			if len(symbolsForReturn) != 0 {
-				nearestSym := symbolsForReturn[len(symbolsForReturn)-1]
+				nearestSym := symbolsForReturn[0]
 				valueToReturn = nearestSym.Name()
 			}
 
diff --git a/error_templates/java/test_files/missing_return_error/test.txt b/error_templates/java/test_files/missing_return_error/test.txt
index aba927e..6718a10 100644
--- a/error_templates/java/test_files/missing_return_error/test.txt
+++ b/error_templates/java/test_files/missing_return_error/test.txt
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Since the `addNumbers` method is declared to return an `int`, you need to provid
 public class MissingReturn {
     public int addNumbers(int a, int b) {
         // Missing return statement
-+         return b;
++         return a;
     }
 
 ```