diff --git a/main-loop.c b/main-loop.c
index e43c7c8e8d4355794540063da0f6be92c73e8bdc..234a3130c2132ad1c13322949549e14fffeb9ded 100644
--- a/main-loop.c
+++ b/main-loop.c
@@ -123,7 +123,10 @@ int qemu_init_main_loop(void)
     GSource *src;
 
     init_clocks();
-    init_timer_alarm();
+    if (init_timer_alarm() < 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "could not initialize alarm timer\n");
+        exit(1);
+    }
 
     qemu_mutex_lock_iothread();
     ret = qemu_signal_init();
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 99681dabf561862b45044362c883995fab36842c..e2d5276988e04c3ec9b53ab201ef87c221cf7a3f 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -3616,11 +3616,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
             add_device_config(DEV_VIRTCON, "vc:80Cx24C");
     }
 
-    if (init_timer_alarm() < 0) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "could not initialize alarm timer\n");
-        exit(1);
-    }
-
     socket_init();
 
     if (qemu_opts_foreach(qemu_find_opts("chardev"), chardev_init_func, NULL, 1) != 0)