diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 5b594a849a..491dfc7db0 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -811,8 +811,6 @@ qemuStateInitialize(bool privileged,
 
     conn = virConnectOpen(cfg->uri);
 
-    qemuProcessReconnectAll(conn, qemu_driver);
-
     /* Then inactive persistent configs */
     if (virDomainObjListLoadAllConfigs(qemu_driver->domains,
                                        cfg->configDir,
@@ -823,6 +821,7 @@ qemuStateInitialize(bool privileged,
                                        NULL, NULL) < 0)
         goto error;
 
+    qemuProcessReconnectAll(conn, qemu_driver);
 
     virDomainObjListForEach(qemu_driver->domains,
                             qemuDomainSnapshotLoad,
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 393110b735..43a9156034 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -3253,6 +3253,9 @@ qemuProcessReconnectHelper(virDomainObjPtr obj,
     struct qemuProcessReconnectData *src = opaque;
     struct qemuProcessReconnectData *data;
 
+    if (!obj->pid)
+        return 0;
+
     if (VIR_ALLOC(data) < 0)
         return -1;