diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index f06ec5688cde54d1367218d164af506af817181c..d8a747c9b4e0fb1a5e10d5cca7fb97e1aeb69af9 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -2233,12 +2233,6 @@ qemuProcessDetectIOThreadPIDs(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
     if (niothreads < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
-    /* Nothing to do */
-    if (niothreads == 0) {
-        ret = 0;
-        goto cleanup;
-    }
-
     if (niothreads != vm->def->iothreads) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
                        _("got wrong number of IOThread pids from QEMU monitor. "
@@ -2247,6 +2241,12 @@ qemuProcessDetectIOThreadPIDs(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
+    /* Nothing to do */
+    if (niothreads == 0) {
+        ret = 0;
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     for (i = 0; i < niothreads; i++) {
         virDomainIOThreadIDDefPtr iothrid;