diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_checkpoint.c b/src/qemu/qemu_checkpoint.c
index 62b6e87b53..3a510c9780 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_checkpoint.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_checkpoint.c
@@ -647,18 +647,18 @@ qemuCheckpointCreateXML(virDomainPtr domain,
         update_current = false;
     }
 
-    if (!virQEMUCapsGet(priv->qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_INCREMENTAL_BACKUP)) {
-        virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
-                       _("incremental backup is not supported yet"));
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
     if (!virDomainObjIsActive(vm)) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
                        _("cannot create checkpoint for inactive domain"));
         return NULL;
     }
 
+    if (!virQEMUCapsGet(priv->qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_INCREMENTAL_BACKUP)) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                       _("incremental backup is not supported yet"));
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
     if (!(def = virDomainCheckpointDefParseString(xmlDesc, driver->xmlopt,
                                                   priv->qemuCaps, parse_flags)))
         return NULL;