diff --git a/util/qemu-sockets.c b/util/qemu-sockets.c
index 8b75541ce41fbc5cde410f081be9b98db0ce1856..a1cf47e625f1b134b07a0d2de937ee2a8ca170ec 100644
--- a/util/qemu-sockets.c
+++ b/util/qemu-sockets.c
@@ -1079,6 +1079,9 @@ void socket_listen_cleanup(int fd, Error **errp)
     SocketAddress *addr;
 
     addr = socket_local_address(fd, errp);
+    if (!addr) {
+        return;
+    }
 
     if (addr->type == SOCKET_ADDRESS_TYPE_UNIX
         && addr->u.q_unix.path) {