diff --git a/block/qcow.c b/block/qcow.c
index 7bd94dcd46b83f11eb12d5b1543dbd70127b0ced..49871fb873af0059675004e0e4ee3a0a1e474e65 100644
--- a/block/qcow.c
+++ b/block/qcow.c
@@ -811,6 +811,12 @@ static int qcow_create(const char *filename, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
     /* Read out options */
     total_size = ROUND_UP(qemu_opt_get_size_del(opts, BLOCK_OPT_SIZE, 0),
                           BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE);
+    if (total_size == 0) {
+        error_setg(errp, "Image size is too small, cannot be zero length");
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     backing_file = qemu_opt_get_del(opts, BLOCK_OPT_BACKING_FILE);
     if (qemu_opt_get_bool_del(opts, BLOCK_OPT_ENCRYPT, false)) {
         flags |= BLOCK_FLAG_ENCRYPT;