diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index f8a13d7070..d84857c064 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -2239,7 +2239,7 @@ static int chardev_init_func(void *opaque, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
 
     if (!qemu_chr_new_from_opts(opts, &local_err)) {
         if (local_err) {
-            error_report_err(local_err);
+            error_propagate(errp, local_err);
             return -1;
         }
         exit(0);
@@ -4233,10 +4233,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                       user_creatable_add_opts_foreach,
                       object_create_initial, &error_fatal);
 
-    if (qemu_opts_foreach(qemu_find_opts("chardev"),
-                          chardev_init_func, NULL, NULL)) {
-        exit(1);
-    }
+    qemu_opts_foreach(qemu_find_opts("chardev"),
+                      chardev_init_func, NULL, &error_fatal);
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_VIRTFS
     if (qemu_opts_foreach(qemu_find_opts("fsdev"),