diff --git a/exec.c b/exec.c
index 59debc9cd8..26469120d9 100644
--- a/exec.c
+++ b/exec.c
@@ -1150,6 +1150,11 @@ ram_addr_t qemu_ram_alloc_from_ptr(ram_addr_t size, void *host,
         }
         if (!new_block->host) {
             new_block->host = phys_mem_alloc(size);
+            if (!new_block->host) {
+                fprintf(stderr, "Cannot set up guest memory '%s': %s\n",
+                        new_block->mr->name, strerror(errno));
+                exit(1);
+            }
             memory_try_enable_merging(new_block->host, size);
         }
     }
diff --git a/target-s390x/kvm.c b/target-s390x/kvm.c
index 0b75164ddb..4923e0a717 100644
--- a/target-s390x/kvm.c
+++ b/target-s390x/kvm.c
@@ -332,11 +332,7 @@ static void *legacy_s390_alloc(ram_addr_t size)
     mem = mmap((void *) 0x800000000ULL, size,
                PROT_EXEC|PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE,
                MAP_SHARED | MAP_ANONYMOUS | MAP_FIXED, -1, 0);
-    if (mem == MAP_FAILED) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Allocating RAM failed\n");
-        abort();
-    }
-    return mem;
+    return mem == MAP_FAILED ? NULL : mem;
 }
 
 int kvm_arch_insert_sw_breakpoint(CPUState *cs, struct kvm_sw_breakpoint *bp)
diff --git a/util/oslib-posix.c b/util/oslib-posix.c
index 3dc8b1b074..253bc3df2e 100644
--- a/util/oslib-posix.c
+++ b/util/oslib-posix.c
@@ -112,9 +112,7 @@ void *qemu_anon_ram_alloc(size_t size)
     size_t offset = QEMU_ALIGN_UP((uintptr_t)ptr, align) - (uintptr_t)ptr;
 
     if (ptr == MAP_FAILED) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Failed to allocate %zu B: %s\n",
-                size, strerror(errno));
-        abort();
+        return NULL;
     }
 
     ptr += offset;
diff --git a/util/oslib-win32.c b/util/oslib-win32.c
index 961fbf5e3d..983b7a2375 100644
--- a/util/oslib-win32.c
+++ b/util/oslib-win32.c
@@ -65,10 +65,7 @@ void *qemu_anon_ram_alloc(size_t size)
     /* FIXME: this is not exactly optimal solution since VirtualAlloc
        has 64Kb granularity, but at least it guarantees us that the
        memory is page aligned. */
-    if (!size) {
-        abort();
-    }
-    ptr = qemu_oom_check(VirtualAlloc(NULL, size, MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE));
+    ptr = VirtualAlloc(NULL, size, MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE);
     trace_qemu_anon_ram_alloc(size, ptr);
     return ptr;
 }