diff --git a/qemu-char.c b/qemu-char.c
index 800ee6c..75dbf66 100644
--- a/qemu-char.c
+++ b/qemu-char.c
@@ -1180,6 +1180,9 @@ static CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_tty(QemuOpts *opts)
     int fd;
 
     TFR(fd = open(filename, O_RDWR | O_NONBLOCK));
+    if (fd < 0) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
     tty_serial_init(fd, 115200, 'N', 8, 1);
     chr = qemu_chr_open_fd(fd, fd);
     if (!chr) {