diff --git a/tests/vhost-user-test.c b/tests/vhost-user-test.c
index 22e9202b8dff46beca20e46a2d33ab6166257370..f87afeedb90640a598617a1b834a1f7b2d093e54 100644
--- a/tests/vhost-user-test.c
+++ b/tests/vhost-user-test.c
@@ -494,6 +494,7 @@ static void test_server_create_chr(TestServer *server, const gchar *opt)
     chr = qemu_chr_new(server->chr_name, chr_path);
     g_free(chr_path);
 
+    g_assert_nonnull(chr);
     qemu_chr_fe_init(&server->chr, chr, &error_abort);
     qemu_chr_fe_set_handlers(&server->chr, chr_can_read, chr_read,
                              chr_event, NULL, server, NULL, true);