diff --git a/hw/virtio/vhost-vsock.c b/hw/virtio/vhost-vsock.c
index 66da96583b..9f9093e196 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/vhost-vsock.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/vhost-vsock.c
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ static void vhost_vsock_device_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
     } else {
         vhostfd = open("/dev/vhost-vsock", O_RDWR);
         if (vhostfd < 0) {
-            error_setg_errno(errp, -errno,
+            error_setg_errno(errp, errno,
                              "vhost-vsock: failed to open vhost device");
             return;
         }