diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 20d24be9d0..a485c58fdd 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -3618,6 +3618,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
         }
     }
 
+    if (qemu_opts_foreach(&qemu_mon_opts, mon_init_func, NULL, 1) != 0) {
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
     if (foreach_device_config(DEV_SERIAL, serial_parse) < 0)
         exit(1);
     if (foreach_device_config(DEV_PARALLEL, parallel_parse) < 0)
@@ -3730,9 +3734,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
 
     text_consoles_set_display(ds);
 
-    if (qemu_opts_foreach(&qemu_mon_opts, mon_init_func, NULL, 1) != 0)
-        exit(1);
-
     if (gdbstub_dev && gdbserver_start(gdbstub_dev) < 0) {
         fprintf(stderr, "qemu: could not open gdbserver on device '%s'\n",
                 gdbstub_dev);