diff --git a/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_driver.c b/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_driver.c
index d25c6f2be0..6602d730b9 100644
--- a/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_driver.c
+++ b/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_driver.c
@@ -175,8 +175,9 @@ nwfilterStateInitialize(bool privileged,
     DBusConnection *sysbus = NULL;
 
 #if WITH_DBUS
-    if (virDBusHasSystemBus())
-        sysbus = virDBusGetSystemBus();
+    if (virDBusHasSystemBus() &&
+        !(sysbus = virDBusGetSystemBus()))
+        return -1;
 #endif /* WITH_DBUS */
 
     if (VIR_ALLOC(driverState) < 0)
diff --git a/src/util/virdbus.c b/src/util/virdbus.c
index dc4ace0ea4..4e4c267126 100644
--- a/src/util/virdbus.c
+++ b/src/util/virdbus.c
@@ -111,14 +111,29 @@ virDBusGetSystemBus(void)
 }
 
 
+/**
+ * virDBusHasSystemBus:
+ *
+ * Check if dbus system bus is running. This does not
+ * imply that we have a connection. DBus might be running
+ * and refusing connections due to its client limit. The
+ * latter must be treated as a fatal error.
+ *
+ * Return false if dbus is not available, true if probably available.
+ */
 bool
 virDBusHasSystemBus(void)
 {
     if (virDBusGetSystemBusInternal())
         return true;
 
-    VIR_DEBUG("System DBus not available: %s", NULLSTR(systemdbuserr.message));
-    return false;
+    if (systemdbuserr.name &&
+        (STREQ(systemdbuserr.name, "org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.FileNotFound") ||
+         STREQ(systemdbuserr.name, "org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NoServer"))) {
+        VIR_DEBUG("System DBus not available: %s", NULLSTR(systemdbuserr.message));
+        return false;
+    }
+    return true;
 }
 
 
@@ -1257,7 +1272,8 @@ int virDBusIsServiceEnabled(const char *name)
     if (!virDBusHasSystemBus())
         return -2;
 
-    conn = virDBusGetSystemBus();
+    if (!(conn = virDBusGetSystemBus()))
+        return -1;
 
     if (virDBusCallMethod(conn,
                           &reply,
diff --git a/src/util/virsystemd.c b/src/util/virsystemd.c
index 1ba37ccdfe..503fff752b 100644
--- a/src/util/virsystemd.c
+++ b/src/util/virsystemd.c
@@ -169,7 +169,8 @@ int virSystemdCreateMachine(const char *name,
     if (ret < 0)
         return ret;
 
-    conn = virDBusGetSystemBus();
+    if (!(conn = virDBusGetSystemBus()))
+        return -1;
 
     ret = -1;
     if (!(machinename = virSystemdMakeMachineName(name, drivername, privileged)))
@@ -267,7 +268,8 @@ int virSystemdTerminateMachine(const char *name,
     if (ret < 0)
         return ret;
 
-    conn = virDBusGetSystemBus();
+    if (!(conn = virDBusGetSystemBus()))
+        return -1;
 
     ret = -1;
     if (!(machinename = virSystemdMakeMachineName(name, drivername, privileged)))