diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_checkpoint.c b/src/qemu/qemu_checkpoint.c
index 76f10a701eee9a4d73d7e724cccdb29fad8c6c7b..62b6e87b53012f4da1f42c32c90bf7e6b00d0cc2 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_checkpoint.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_checkpoint.c
@@ -771,15 +771,15 @@ qemuCheckpointDelete(virDomainObjPtr vm,
         return -1;
 
     if (!metadata_only) {
-        if (!virQEMUCapsGet(priv->qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_INCREMENTAL_BACKUP)) {
+        if (!virDomainObjIsActive(vm)) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
-                           _("incremental backup is not supported yet"));
+                           _("cannot delete checkpoint for inactive domain"));
             goto endjob;
         }
 
-        if (!virDomainObjIsActive(vm)) {
+        if (!virQEMUCapsGet(priv->qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_INCREMENTAL_BACKUP)) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
-                           _("cannot delete checkpoint for inactive domain"));
+                           _("incremental backup is not supported yet"));
             goto endjob;
         }
     }