diff --git a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-handle.c b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-handle.c
index ed8c126e1d..17002a3d28 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-handle.c
+++ b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-handle.c
@@ -591,7 +591,8 @@ static int handle_ioc_getversion(FsContext *ctx, V9fsPath *path,
      * We can get fd for regular files and directories only
      */
     if (!S_ISREG(st_mode) && !S_ISDIR(st_mode)) {
-            return 0;
+        errno = ENOTTY;
+        return -1;
     }
     err = handle_open(ctx, path, O_RDONLY, &fid_open);
     if (err < 0) {
diff --git a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-local.c b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-local.c
index 9be8854e91..df0dbffa7a 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-local.c
+++ b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-local.c
@@ -1077,7 +1077,8 @@ static int local_ioc_getversion(FsContext *ctx, V9fsPath *path,
      * We can get fd for regular files and directories only
      */
     if (!S_ISREG(st_mode) && !S_ISDIR(st_mode)) {
-            return 0;
+        errno = ENOTTY;
+        return -1;
     }
     err = local_open(ctx, path, O_RDONLY, &fid_open);
     if (err < 0) {
diff --git a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-proxy.c b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-proxy.c
index 5f44bb758b..b57966d9d8 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-proxy.c
+++ b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-proxy.c
@@ -1086,7 +1086,8 @@ static int proxy_ioc_getversion(FsContext *fs_ctx, V9fsPath *path,
      * we can get fd for regular files and directories only
      */
     if (!S_ISREG(st_mode) && !S_ISDIR(st_mode)) {
-        return 0;
+        errno = ENOTTY;
+        return -1;
     }
     err = v9fs_request(fs_ctx->private, T_GETVERSION, st_gen, "s", path);
     if (err < 0) {