diff --git a/ui/vnc.c b/ui/vnc.c
index 98e3d3b1d8..0c1b477425 100644
--- a/ui/vnc.c
+++ b/ui/vnc.c
@@ -4082,13 +4082,13 @@ int vnc_init_func(void *opaque, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
     assert(id);
     vnc_display_init(id, &local_err);
     if (local_err) {
-        error_report_err(local_err);
-        exit(1);
+        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+        return -1;
     }
     vnc_display_open(id, &local_err);
     if (local_err != NULL) {
-        error_reportf_err(local_err, "Failed to start VNC server: ");
-        exit(1);
+        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+        return -1;
     }
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 1fa1e14853..2ff0c5f32d 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -4527,7 +4527,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
     /* init remote displays */
 #ifdef CONFIG_VNC
     qemu_opts_foreach(qemu_find_opts("vnc"),
-                      vnc_init_func, NULL, NULL);
+                      vnc_init_func, NULL, &error_fatal);
 #endif
 
     if (using_spice) {