diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 31e3411cb1..30b50764de 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -3489,11 +3489,16 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
             }
             case QEMU_OPTION_acpitable:
                 opts = qemu_opts_parse(qemu_find_opts("acpi"), optarg, 1);
-                g_assert(opts != NULL);
+                if (!opts) {
+                    exit(1);
+                }
                 do_acpitable_option(opts);
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_smbios:
                 opts = qemu_opts_parse(qemu_find_opts("smbios"), optarg, 0);
+                if (!opts) {
+                    exit(1);
+                }
                 do_smbios_option(opts);
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_enable_kvm: