diff --git a/monitor.c b/monitor.c
index 57ce68b6d13e9243b93a3c6c8ea4ef3201b235e3..ae0fdaa3482573ced6cc59a5e5b802238671a880 100644
--- a/monitor.c
+++ b/monitor.c
@@ -1727,8 +1727,7 @@ static void do_loadvm(Monitor *mon, const char *name)
 
     vm_stop(0);
 
-    load_vmstate(mon, name);
-    if (saved_vm_running)
+    if (load_vmstate(mon, name) >= 0 && saved_vm_running)
         vm_start();
 }
 
diff --git a/savevm.c b/savevm.c
index f14487cad265bfe020abc8a8f209fb1647a633d5..f273cb98bd4e61caa6de7a86a6631741edbd1ef0 100644
--- a/savevm.c
+++ b/savevm.c
@@ -1174,7 +1174,7 @@ void do_savevm(Monitor *mon, const char *name)
         vm_start();
 }
 
-void load_vmstate(Monitor *mon, const char *name)
+int load_vmstate(Monitor *mon, const char *name)
 {
     DriveInfo *dinfo;
     BlockDriverState *bs, *bs1;
@@ -1185,7 +1185,7 @@ void load_vmstate(Monitor *mon, const char *name)
     bs = get_bs_snapshots();
     if (!bs) {
         monitor_printf(mon, "No block device supports snapshots\n");
-        return;
+        return -EINVAL;
     }
 
     /* Flush all IO requests so they don't interfere with the new state.  */
@@ -1216,7 +1216,7 @@ void load_vmstate(Monitor *mon, const char *name)
                 }
                 /* fatal on snapshot block device */
                 if (bs == bs1)
-                    return;
+                    return 0;
             }
         }
     }
@@ -1224,19 +1224,21 @@ void load_vmstate(Monitor *mon, const char *name)
     /* Don't even try to load empty VM states */
     ret = bdrv_snapshot_find(bs, &sn, name);
     if ((ret >= 0) && (sn.vm_state_size == 0))
-        return;
+        return -EINVAL;
 
     /* restore the VM state */
     f = qemu_fopen_bdrv(bs, 0);
     if (!f) {
         monitor_printf(mon, "Could not open VM state file\n");
-        return;
+        return -EINVAL;
     }
     ret = qemu_loadvm_state(f);
     qemu_fclose(f);
     if (ret < 0) {
         monitor_printf(mon, "Error %d while loading VM state\n", ret);
+        return ret;
     }
+    return 0;
 }
 
 void do_delvm(Monitor *mon, const char *name)
diff --git a/sysemu.h b/sysemu.h
index cabe79d36b8ff5dc5de4f72da0da110fb36330d1..18fa0727c16e932f6aee5c2a5c01dd58e9d3c58b 100644
--- a/sysemu.h
+++ b/sysemu.h
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ extern qemu_irq qemu_system_powerdown;
 void qemu_system_reset(void);
 
 void do_savevm(Monitor *mon, const char *name);
-void load_vmstate(Monitor *mon, const char *name);
+int load_vmstate(Monitor *mon, const char *name);
 void do_delvm(Monitor *mon, const char *name);
 void do_info_snapshots(Monitor *mon);
 
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 95ed5110611803bbe098364d95d736e6765150fe..9b2bf00a725400a311e37a56db0429b180c0616c 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -6030,8 +6030,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
         exit(1);
     }
 
-    if (loadvm)
-        load_vmstate(cur_mon, loadvm);
+    if (loadvm) {
+        if (load_vmstate(cur_mon, loadvm) < 0) {
+            autostart = 0;
+        }
+    }
 
     if (incoming) {
         qemu_start_incoming_migration(incoming);