diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index b6c0f1b06e4874ed2e769dc9eb481d91ccd842d4..ec6614a68f909bf2bde1a7885d6f45113d2c42cc 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -3243,6 +3243,8 @@ virQEMUCapsInitQMP(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
     config.data.nix.path = monpath;
     config.data.nix.listen = false;
 
+    virPidFileForceCleanupPath(pidfile);
+
     VIR_DEBUG("Try to get caps via QMP qemuCaps=%p", qemuCaps);
 
     /*