diff --git a/hw/virtio/vhost-user.c b/hw/virtio/vhost-user.c
index 7930fd85fc..6eb97980ad 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/vhost-user.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/vhost-user.c
@@ -342,11 +342,14 @@ static int vhost_user_set_mem_table(struct vhost_dev *dev,
                                      &offset);
         fd = memory_region_get_fd(mr);
         if (fd > 0) {
+            if (fd_num == VHOST_MEMORY_MAX_NREGIONS) {
+                error_report("Failed preparing vhost-user memory table msg");
+                return -1;
+            }
             msg.payload.memory.regions[fd_num].userspace_addr = reg->userspace_addr;
             msg.payload.memory.regions[fd_num].memory_size  = reg->memory_size;
             msg.payload.memory.regions[fd_num].guest_phys_addr = reg->guest_phys_addr;
             msg.payload.memory.regions[fd_num].mmap_offset = offset;
-            assert(fd_num < VHOST_MEMORY_MAX_NREGIONS);
             fds[fd_num++] = fd;
         }
     }