diff --git a/chardev/char.c b/chardev/char.c
index f59a61774b..4595a8d430 100644
--- a/chardev/char.c
+++ b/chardev/char.c
@@ -1036,6 +1036,11 @@ ChardevReturn *qmp_chardev_add(const char *id, ChardevBackend *backend,
     ChardevReturn *ret;
     g_autoptr(Chardev) chr = NULL;
 
+    if (qemu_chr_find(id)) {
+        error_setg(errp, "Chardev with id '%s' already exists", id);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
     cc = char_get_class(ChardevBackendKind_str(backend->type), errp);
     if (!cc) {
         goto err;