diff --git a/hw/arm/virt.c b/hw/arm/virt.c
index fd52b76882ab865a395b4f41a8dc38684aa34ce4..92dcd021190df0f0ac06305b1ba1c7c0331059d8 100644
--- a/hw/arm/virt.c
+++ b/hw/arm/virt.c
@@ -1200,9 +1200,8 @@ static void virt_set_gic_version(Object *obj, const char *value, Error **errp)
     } else if (!strcmp(value, "host")) {
         vms->gic_version = 0; /* Will probe later */
     } else {
-        error_report("Invalid gic-version option value");
-        error_printf("Allowed gic-version values are: 3, 2, host\n");
-        exit(1);
+        error_setg(errp, "Invalid gic-version value");
+        error_append_hint(errp, "Valid values are 3, 2, host.\n");
     }
 }