diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 319f6413f2..d77dd862f9 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -4063,6 +4063,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
 
     os_daemonize();
 
+    if (pid_file && qemu_create_pidfile(pid_file) != 0) {
+        error_report("could not acquire pid file: %s", strerror(errno));
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
     if (qemu_init_main_loop(&main_loop_err)) {
         error_report_err(main_loop_err);
         exit(1);
@@ -4340,11 +4345,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
     }
 #endif
 
-    if (pid_file && qemu_create_pidfile(pid_file) != 0) {
-        error_report("could not acquire pid file: %s", strerror(errno));
-        exit(1);
-    }
-
     if (qemu_opts_foreach(qemu_find_opts("device"),
                           device_help_func, NULL, NULL)) {
         exit(0);