diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 63d954bbcf78e3a66f96d7ba18f658c0b62c1b13..b246e47a58215f6c1ea320194b93e0b4b6f41fd6 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -2778,6 +2778,11 @@ DisplayState *get_displaystate(void)
 static void dumb_display_init(void)
 {
     DisplayState *ds = qemu_mallocz(sizeof(DisplayState));
+    if (ds == NULL) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "dumb_display_init: DisplayState allocation failed\n");
+        exit(1);
+    }
+    ds->surface = qemu_create_displaysurface(640, 480, 32, 640 * 4);
     register_displaystate(ds);
 }