diff --git a/src/kservice.c b/src/kservice.c
index 0e15610e5103c1a8c948e893f8e52326558bdc91..f18f792dda6565abc4a7049328e092f143d429c4 100644
--- a/src/kservice.c
+++ b/src/kservice.c
@@ -1073,8 +1073,8 @@ rt_device_t rt_console_set_device(const char *name)
         }
 
         /* set new console device */
+        rt_device_open(new, RT_DEVICE_OFLAG_RDWR | RT_DEVICE_FLAG_STREAM);
         _console_device = new;
-        rt_device_open(_console_device, RT_DEVICE_OFLAG_RDWR | RT_DEVICE_FLAG_STREAM);
     }
 
     return old;