diff --git a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-proxy.c b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-proxy.c
index e6bbb06319a125ef0e3a6ccb9b45a043961c75f8..2ec211bbeaf0630811bf4a46a68b17e6fea773ed 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-proxy.c
+++ b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-proxy.c
@@ -1155,10 +1155,12 @@ static int proxy_init(FsContext *ctx)
         sock_id = atoi(ctx->fs_root);
         if (sock_id < 0) {
             fprintf(stderr, "socket descriptor not initialized\n");
-            g_free(proxy);
-            return -1;
         }
     }
+    if (sock_id < 0) {
+        g_free(proxy);
+        return -1;
+    }
     g_free(ctx->fs_root);
     ctx->fs_root = NULL;