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Leader negative emotional expression (LNE) has been proposed to contribute to follower performance; however, less is known about employees’ work-related affective state and the characteristics of cognitive attribution during the underlying process. Drawing on the emotions as social information model, we explore the mediating effect of work engagement and the moderating effect of internal locus of control (ILC). The data comprises 315 leader–follower dyads. The results reveal that LNE can decrease follower performance and that work engagement mediates this effect. In addition, the direct effect of LNE on follower performance is moderated by ILC. The negative effect is stronger for employees with low levels of ILC than for those employees with high levels of ILC. Our research provides a better understanding of the internal mechanism and boundary condition of the relationship between LNE and follower performance. Implications and limitations are also discussed.