diff --git a/src/rpc/virnetclient.c b/src/rpc/virnetclient.c
index 8657b0ec6cbf8b3128cd61650784bbf157639d35..d7455b571d55a2584f3f3f3c572adc88b9f5782f 100644
--- a/src/rpc/virnetclient.c
+++ b/src/rpc/virnetclient.c
@@ -634,8 +634,11 @@ virNetClientMarkClose(virNetClientPtr client,
     VIR_DEBUG("client=%p, reason=%d", client, reason);
     if (client->sock)
         virNetSocketRemoveIOCallback(client->sock);
-    client->wantClose = true;
-    client->closeReason = reason;
+    /* Don't override reason that's already set. */
+    if (!client->wantClose) {
+        client->wantClose = true;
+        client->closeReason = reason;
+    }
 }