diff --git a/hw/pc.c b/hw/pc.c
index 4f6a522..551c901 100644
--- a/hw/pc.c
+++ b/hw/pc.c
@@ -669,6 +669,12 @@ static void load_linux(void *fw_cfg,
 	}
 
 	initrd_size = get_image_size(initrd_filename);
+	if (initrd_size < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "qemu: initrd %s does not exist\n",
+							initrd_filename);
+		exit(1);
+	}
+
         initrd_addr = (initrd_max-initrd_size) & ~4095;
 
         initrd_data = qemu_malloc(initrd_size);