diff --git a/include/hw/elf_ops.h b/include/hw/elf_ops.h
index 9c35d1b9da..3e966ddd5a 100644
--- a/include/hw/elf_ops.h
+++ b/include/hw/elf_ops.h
@@ -427,6 +427,16 @@ static ssize_t glue(load_elf, SZ)(const char *name, int fd,
             file_size = ph->p_filesz; /* Size of the allocated data */
             data_offset = ph->p_offset; /* Offset where the data is located */
 
+            /*
+             * Some ELF files really do have segments of zero size;
+             * just ignore them rather than trying to set the wrong addr,
+             * or create empty ROM blobs, because the zero-length blob can
+             * falsely trigger the overlapping-ROM-blobs check.
+             */
+            if (mem_size == 0) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
             if (file_size > 0) {
                 if (g_mapped_file_get_length(mapped_file) <
                     file_size + data_offset) {
@@ -530,45 +540,38 @@ static ssize_t glue(load_elf, SZ)(const char *name, int fd,
                 *pentry = ehdr.e_entry - ph->p_vaddr + ph->p_paddr;
             }
 
-            /* Some ELF files really do have segments of zero size;
-             * just ignore them rather than trying to create empty
-             * ROM blobs, because the zero-length blob can falsely
-             * trigger the overlapping-ROM-blobs check.
-             */
-            if (mem_size != 0) {
-                if (load_rom) {
-                    g_autofree char *label =
-                        g_strdup_printf("%s ELF program header segment %d",
-                                        name, i);
+            if (load_rom) {
+                g_autofree char *label =
+                    g_strdup_printf("%s ELF program header segment %d",
+                                    name, i);
 
-                    /*
-                     * rom_add_elf_program() takes its own reference to
-                     * 'mapped_file'.
-                     */
-                    rom_add_elf_program(label, mapped_file, data, file_size,
-                                        mem_size, addr, as);
-                } else {
-                    MemTxResult res;
+                /*
+                 * rom_add_elf_program() takes its own reference to
+                 * 'mapped_file'.
+                 */
+                rom_add_elf_program(label, mapped_file, data, file_size,
+                                    mem_size, addr, as);
+            } else {
+                MemTxResult res;
 
-                    res = address_space_write(as ? as : &address_space_memory,
-                                              addr, MEMTXATTRS_UNSPECIFIED,
-                                              data, file_size);
+                res = address_space_write(as ? as : &address_space_memory,
+                                          addr, MEMTXATTRS_UNSPECIFIED,
+                                          data, file_size);
+                if (res != MEMTX_OK) {
+                    goto fail;
+                }
+                /*
+                 * We need to zero'ify the space that is not copied
+                 * from file
+                 */
+                if (file_size < mem_size) {
+                    res = address_space_set(as ? as : &address_space_memory,
+                                            addr + file_size, 0,
+                                            mem_size - file_size,
+                                            MEMTXATTRS_UNSPECIFIED);
                     if (res != MEMTX_OK) {
                         goto fail;
                     }
-                    /*
-                     * We need to zero'ify the space that is not copied
-                     * from file
-                     */
-                    if (file_size < mem_size) {
-                        res = address_space_set(as ? as : &address_space_memory,
-                                                addr + file_size, 0,
-                                                mem_size - file_size,
-                                                MEMTXATTRS_UNSPECIFIED);
-                        if (res != MEMTX_OK) {
-                            goto fail;
-                        }
-                    }
                 }
             }