diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index a909b9d..dacd881 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -5850,13 +5850,19 @@
 BlockDriverState *check_to_replace_node(const char *node_name, Error **errp)
 {
     BlockDriverState *to_replace_bs = bdrv_find_node(node_name);
+    AioContext *aio_context;
+
     if (!to_replace_bs) {
         error_setg(errp, "Node name '%s' not found", node_name);
         return NULL;
     }
 
+    aio_context = bdrv_get_aio_context(to_replace_bs);
+    aio_context_acquire(aio_context);
+
     if (bdrv_op_is_blocked(to_replace_bs, BLOCK_OP_TYPE_REPLACE, errp)) {
-        return NULL;
+        to_replace_bs = NULL;
+        goto out;
     }
 
     /* We don't want arbitrary node of the BDS chain to be replaced only the top
@@ -5866,9 +5872,12 @@
      */
     if (!bdrv_is_first_non_filter(to_replace_bs)) {
         error_setg(errp, "Only top most non filter can be replaced");
-        return NULL;
+        to_replace_bs = NULL;
+        goto out;
     }
 
+out:
+    aio_context_release(aio_context);
     return to_replace_bs;
 }