diff --git a/qmp.c b/qmp.c
index 0f46171aad..a67e0c4539 100644
--- a/qmp.c
+++ b/qmp.c
@@ -549,15 +549,17 @@ void object_add(const char *type, const char *id, const QDict *qdict,
         for (e = qdict_first(qdict); e; e = qdict_next(qdict, e)) {
             object_property_set(obj, v, e->key, &local_err);
             if (local_err) {
-                error_propagate(errp, local_err);
-                object_unref(obj);
-                return;
+                goto out;
             }
         }
     }
 
     object_property_add_child(container_get(object_get_root(), "/objects"),
-                              id, obj, errp);
+                              id, obj, &local_err);
+out:
+    if (local_err) {
+        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+    }
     object_unref(obj);
 }