diff --git a/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_driver.c b/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_driver.c
index 27f2c9469eaad3a5a1aea2373435c70e937a5e90..42f8531b4db49205e1e06ba9be8d1cca6c37075e 100644
--- a/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_driver.c
+++ b/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_driver.c
@@ -170,6 +170,9 @@ nwfilterDriverStartup(int privileged)
     char *base = NULL;
     DBusConnection *sysbus = NULL;
 
+    if (!privileged)
+        return 0;
+
 #if HAVE_DBUS
     sysbus = virDBusGetSystemBus();
 #endif /* HAVE_DBUS */
@@ -185,9 +188,6 @@ nwfilterDriverStartup(int privileged)
     driverState->watchingFirewallD = (sysbus != NULL);
     driverState->privileged = privileged;
 
-    if (!privileged)
-        return 0;
-
     nwfilterDriverLock(driverState);
 
     if (virNWFilterIPAddrMapInit() < 0)