diff --git a/hmp.c b/hmp.c
index 9469163913..5c4d612294 100644
--- a/hmp.c
+++ b/hmp.c
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@
 
 static void hmp_handle_error(Monitor *mon, Error **errp)
 {
-    if (error_is_set(errp)) {
+    assert(errp);
+    if (*errp) {
         monitor_printf(mon, "%s\n", error_get_pretty(*errp));
         error_free(*errp);
     }