diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 0753904472df93e6e66b501ba0a3dd37340e5ea2..f7f059b6d6bc96b2bff885a23904bd1401ebfb42 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -15902,18 +15902,18 @@ qemuDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr domain,
     if (!(vm = qemuDomObjFromDomain(domain)))
         goto cleanup;
 
-    if (virDomainListCheckpoints(vm->checkpoints, NULL, domain, NULL, 0) > 0) {
-        virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
-                       _("cannot create snapshot while checkpoint exists"));
-        goto cleanup;
-    }
-
     priv = vm->privateData;
     cfg = virQEMUDriverGetConfig(driver);
 
     if (virDomainSnapshotCreateXMLEnsureACL(domain->conn, vm->def, flags) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
+    if (virDomainListCheckpoints(vm->checkpoints, NULL, domain, NULL, 0) > 0) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                       _("cannot create snapshot while checkpoint exists"));
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     if (!(caps = virQEMUDriverGetCapabilities(driver, false)))
         goto cleanup;