diff --git a/qemu-char.c b/qemu-char.c
index c2aaaee..eedf66d 100644
--- a/qemu-char.c
+++ b/qemu-char.c
@@ -2263,9 +2263,17 @@ static ssize_t tcp_chr_recv(CharDriverState *chr, char *buf, size_t len)
     msg.msg_control = &msg_control;
     msg.msg_controllen = sizeof(msg_control);
 
+#ifdef MSG_CMSG_CLOEXEC
+    ret = recvmsg(s->fd, &msg, MSG_CMSG_CLOEXEC);
+#else
     ret = recvmsg(s->fd, &msg, 0);
-    if (ret > 0 && s->is_unix)
+    if (ret > 0) {
+        qemu_set_cloexec(s->fd);
+    }
+#endif
+    if (ret > 0 && s->is_unix) {
         unix_process_msgfd(chr, &msg);
+    }
 
     return ret;
 }