diff --git a/tests/vhost-user-test.c b/tests/vhost-user-test.c
index 527d3b321e..dc3ce24d35 100644
--- a/tests/vhost-user-test.c
+++ b/tests/vhost-user-test.c
@@ -465,14 +465,20 @@ static void chr_read(void *opaque, const uint8_t *buf, int size)
     g_mutex_unlock(&s->data_mutex);
 }
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_LINUX
-static const char *init_hugepagefs(const char *path)
+static const char *init_hugepagefs(void)
 {
+#ifdef CONFIG_LINUX
+    const char *path = getenv("QTEST_HUGETLBFS_PATH");
     struct statfs fs;
     int ret;
 
+    if (!path) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
     if (access(path, R_OK | W_OK | X_OK)) {
         g_test_message("access on path (%s): %s\n", path, strerror(errno));
+        abort();
         return NULL;
     }
 
@@ -482,17 +488,21 @@ static const char *init_hugepagefs(const char *path)
 
     if (ret != 0) {
         g_test_message("statfs on path (%s): %s\n", path, strerror(errno));
+        abort();
         return NULL;
     }
 
     if (fs.f_type != HUGETLBFS_MAGIC) {
         g_test_message("Warning: path not on HugeTLBFS: %s\n", path);
+        abort();
         return NULL;
     }
 
     return path;
-}
+#else
+    return NULL;
 #endif
+}
 
 static TestServer *test_server_new(const gchar *name)
 {
@@ -986,7 +996,6 @@ static void test_multiqueue(void)
 
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
-    const char *hugefs;
     int ret;
     char template[] = "/tmp/vhost-test-XXXXXX";
 
@@ -1001,14 +1010,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
     g_assert(tmpfs);
 
-    root = tmpfs;
-#ifdef CONFIG_LINUX
-    hugefs = getenv("QTEST_HUGETLBFS_PATH");
-    if (hugefs) {
-        root = init_hugepagefs(hugefs);
-        g_assert(root);
-    }
-#endif
+    root = init_hugepagefs() ? : tmpfs;
 
     if (qemu_memfd_check(0)) {
         qtest_add_data_func("/vhost-user/read-guest-mem/memfd",