diff --git a/net/slirp.c b/net/slirp.c
index 3f91c4bb3c..b75ad16521 100644
--- a/net/slirp.c
+++ b/net/slirp.c
@@ -464,10 +464,17 @@ int net_slirp_redir(const char *redir_str)
 static void slirp_smb_cleanup(SlirpState *s)
 {
     char cmd[128];
+    int ret;
 
     if (s->smb_dir[0] != '\0') {
         snprintf(cmd, sizeof(cmd), "rm -rf %s", s->smb_dir);
-        system(cmd);
+        ret = system(cmd);
+        if (!WIFEXITED(ret)) {
+            qemu_error("'%s' failed.\n", cmd);
+        } else if (WEXITSTATUS(ret)) {
+            qemu_error("'%s' failed. Error code: %d\n",
+                    cmd, WEXITSTATUS(ret));
+        }
         s->smb_dir[0] = '\0';
     }
 }