diff --git a/hw/tpm/tpm_spapr.c b/hw/tpm/tpm_spapr.c
index cb4dfd1e6a..8288ab0a15 100644
--- a/hw/tpm/tpm_spapr.c
+++ b/hw/tpm/tpm_spapr.c
@@ -306,7 +306,10 @@ static void tpm_spapr_reset(SpaprVioDevice *dev)
                             TPM_SPAPR_BUFFER_MAX);
 
     tpm_backend_reset(s->be_driver);
-    tpm_spapr_do_startup_tpm(s, s->be_buffer_size);
+
+    if (tpm_spapr_do_startup_tpm(s, s->be_buffer_size) < 0) {
+        exit(1);
+    }
 }
 
 static enum TPMVersion tpm_spapr_get_version(TPMIf *ti)