diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 03e3e3db1..2d96374f9 100755
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -653,12 +653,12 @@ mod unit_tests {
                 vec![
                     "cloud-hypervisor",
                     "--disk",
-                    "path=/path/to/disk/1,vhost_user=true,socket=/tmp/socket1",
+                    "vhost_user=true,socket=/tmp/socket1",
                     "path=/path/to/disk/2",
                 ],
                 r#"{
                     "disks": [
-                        {"path": "/path/to/disk/1", "vhost_user":true, "vhost_socket":"/tmp/socket1"},
+                        {"vhost_user":true, "vhost_socket":"/tmp/socket1"},
                         {"path": "/path/to/disk/2"}
                     ]
                 }"#,
@@ -668,12 +668,12 @@ mod unit_tests {
                 vec![
                     "cloud-hypervisor",
                     "--disk",
-                    "path=/path/to/disk/1,vhost_user=true,socket=/tmp/socket1,wce=true",
+                    "vhost_user=true,socket=/tmp/socket1,wce=true",
                     "path=/path/to/disk/2",
                 ],
                 r#"{
                     "disks": [
-                        {"path": "/path/to/disk/1", "vhost_user":true, "vhost_socket":"/tmp/socket1", "wce":true},
+                        {"vhost_user":true, "vhost_socket":"/tmp/socket1", "wce":true},
                         {"path": "/path/to/disk/2"}
                     ]
                 }"#,
diff --git a/vmm/src/config.rs b/vmm/src/config.rs
index e656524b6..5613865f8 100644
--- a/vmm/src/config.rs
+++ b/vmm/src/config.rs
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ pub enum Error {
     ParseDiskVhostParam(std::str::ParseBoolError),
     /// Failed parsing disk wce parameter.
     ParseDiskWceParam(std::str::ParseBoolError),
+    /// Both socket and path specified
+    ParseDiskSocketAndPath,
     /// Failed parsing random number generator parameters.
     ParseRngParams,
     /// Failed parsing network ip parameter.
@@ -453,6 +455,10 @@ impl DiskConfig {
             path = Some(PathBuf::from(path_str))
         }
 
+        if vhost_socket.as_ref().and(path.as_ref()).is_some() {
+            return Err(Error::ParseDiskSocketAndPath);
+        }
+
         Ok(DiskConfig {
             path,
             readonly: parse_on_off(readonly_str)?,