diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
index 4f30b158ce..15ba39b30f 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
@@ -838,7 +838,6 @@ qemuMonitorOpenInternal(virDomainObjPtr vm,
     if (!(mon = virObjectLockableNew(qemuMonitorClass)))
         return NULL;
 
-    mon->fd = -1;
     mon->logfd = -1;
     if (virCondInit(&mon->notify) < 0) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",