diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index 58efb5b..0e96a22 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -1084,8 +1084,8 @@
             snprintf(backing_filename, sizeof(backing_filename),
                      "%s", filename);
         } else if (!realpath(filename, backing_filename)) {
-            error_setg_errno(errp, errno, "Could not resolve path '%s'", filename);
             ret = -errno;
+            error_setg_errno(errp, errno, "Could not resolve path '%s'", filename);
             goto fail;
         }