diff --git a/util/qemu-error.c b/util/qemu-error.c
index 80df49a874..7b167fd06b 100644
--- a/util/qemu-error.c
+++ b/util/qemu-error.c
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
  */
 void error_vprintf(const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 {
-    if (cur_mon) {
+    if (cur_mon && !monitor_cur_is_qmp()) {
         monitor_vprintf(cur_mon, fmt, ap);
     } else {
         vfprintf(stderr, fmt, ap);