diff --git a/softmmu/dirtylimit.c b/softmmu/dirtylimit.c
index 015a9038d1..e80201097a 100644
--- a/softmmu/dirtylimit.c
+++ b/softmmu/dirtylimit.c
@@ -515,14 +515,15 @@ void hmp_set_vcpu_dirty_limit(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
     int64_t cpu_index = qdict_get_try_int(qdict, "cpu_index", -1);
     Error *err = NULL;
 
-    qmp_set_vcpu_dirty_limit(!!(cpu_index != -1), cpu_index, dirty_rate, &err);
-    if (err) {
-        hmp_handle_error(mon, err);
-        return;
+    if (dirty_rate < 0) {
+        error_setg(&err, "invalid dirty page limit %" PRId64, dirty_rate);
+        goto out;
     }
 
-    monitor_printf(mon, "[Please use 'info vcpu_dirty_limit' to query "
-                   "dirty limit for virtual CPU]\n");
+    qmp_set_vcpu_dirty_limit(!!(cpu_index != -1), cpu_index, dirty_rate, &err);
+
+out:
+    hmp_handle_error(mon, err);
 }
 
 static struct DirtyLimitInfo *dirtylimit_query_vcpu(int cpu_index)