diff --git a/softmmu/physmem.c b/softmmu/physmem.c
index 31baf3a887..23e77cb771 100644
--- a/softmmu/physmem.c
+++ b/softmmu/physmem.c
@@ -1451,6 +1451,9 @@ static int64_t get_file_align(int fd)
         path = g_strdup_printf("/sys/dev/char/%d:%d",
                     major(st.st_rdev), minor(st.st_rdev));
         rpath = realpath(path, NULL);
+        if (!rpath) {
+            return -errno;
+        }
 
         rc = daxctl_new(&ctx);
         if (rc) {