diff --git a/hw/virtio-9p-local.c b/hw/virtio-9p-local.c
index 04f7f6f501..43c03c188f 100644
--- a/hw/virtio-9p-local.c
+++ b/hw/virtio-9p-local.c
@@ -426,9 +426,6 @@ static int local_rename(FsContext *ctx, const char *oldpath,
     int err;
 
     tmp = qemu_strdup(rpath(ctx, oldpath));
-    if (tmp == NULL) {
-        return -1;
-    }
 
     err = rename(tmp, rpath(ctx, newpath));
     if (err == -1) {