diff --git a/util/qemu-sockets.c b/util/qemu-sockets.c
index 8818d7c..627e609 100644
--- a/util/qemu-sockets.c
+++ b/util/qemu-sockets.c
@@ -354,6 +354,7 @@
 int inet_connect_opts(QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp,
                       NonBlockingConnectHandler *callback, void *opaque)
 {
+    Error *local_err = NULL;
     struct addrinfo *res, *e;
     int sock = -1;
     bool in_progress;
@@ -372,24 +373,27 @@
     }
 
     for (e = res; e != NULL; e = e->ai_next) {
-        if (error_is_set(errp)) {
-            error_free(*errp);
-            *errp = NULL;
-        }
+        error_free(local_err);
+        local_err = NULL;
         if (connect_state != NULL) {
             connect_state->current_addr = e;
         }
-        sock = inet_connect_addr(e, &in_progress, connect_state, errp);
-        if (in_progress) {
-            return sock;
-        } else if (sock >= 0) {
-            /* non blocking socket immediate success, call callback */
-            if (callback != NULL) {
-                callback(sock, opaque);
-            }
+        sock = inet_connect_addr(e, &in_progress, connect_state, &local_err);
+        if (sock >= 0) {
             break;
         }
     }
+
+    if (sock < 0) {
+        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+    } else if (in_progress) {
+        /* wait_for_connect() will do the rest */
+        return sock;
+    } else {
+        if (callback) {
+            callback(sock, opaque);
+        }
+    }
     g_free(connect_state);
     freeaddrinfo(res);
     return sock;