diff --git a/qemu-nbd.c b/qemu-nbd.c
index 0cb0e4e29a..0c9e807a1a 100644
--- a/qemu-nbd.c
+++ b/qemu-nbd.c
@@ -635,7 +635,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
          * print errors and exit with the proper status code.
          */
         pid = fork();
-        if (pid == 0) {
+        if (pid < 0) {
+            err(EXIT_FAILURE, "Failed to fork");
+        } else if (pid == 0) {
             close(stderr_fd[0]);
             ret = qemu_daemon(1, 0);