diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
index 58de26a276..a53d3b1d60 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
@@ -810,35 +810,52 @@ qemuMonitorOpen(virDomainObjPtr vm,
                 qemuMonitorCallbacksPtr cb,
                 void *opaque)
 {
-    int fd;
+    int fd = -1;
     bool hasSendFD = false;
-    qemuMonitorPtr ret;
+    qemuMonitorPtr ret = NULL;
 
     timeout += QEMU_DEFAULT_MONITOR_WAIT;
 
+    /* Hold an extra reference because we can't allow 'vm' to be
+     * deleted until the monitor gets its own reference. */
+    virObjectRef(vm);
+
     switch (config->type) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_UNIX:
         hasSendFD = true;
-        if ((fd = qemuMonitorOpenUnix(config->data.nix.path,
-                                      vm->pid, retry, timeout)) < 0)
-            return NULL;
+        virObjectUnlock(vm);
+        fd = qemuMonitorOpenUnix(config->data.nix.path,
+                                 vm->pid, retry, timeout);
+        virObjectLock(vm);
         break;
 
     case VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_PTY:
-        if ((fd = qemuMonitorOpenPty(config->data.file.path)) < 0)
-            return NULL;
+        virObjectUnlock(vm);
+        fd = qemuMonitorOpenPty(config->data.file.path);
+        virObjectLock(vm);
         break;
 
     default:
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
                        _("unable to handle monitor type: %s"),
                        virDomainChrTypeToString(config->type));
-        return NULL;
+        break;
+    }
+
+    if (fd < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+
+    if (!virDomainObjIsActive(vm)) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_FAILED, "%s",
+                       _("domain is not running"));
+        goto cleanup;
     }
 
     ret = qemuMonitorOpenInternal(vm, fd, hasSendFD, cb, opaque);
+ cleanup:
     if (!ret)
         VIR_FORCE_CLOSE(fd);
+    virObjectUnref(vm);
     return ret;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 7774a82972..0d20427b9f 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -1955,13 +1955,8 @@ qemuConnectMonitor(virQEMUDriverPtr driver, virDomainObjPtr vm, int asyncJob,
      * 1GiB of guest RAM. */
     timeout = vm->def->mem.total_memory / (1024 * 1024);
 
-    /* Hold an extra reference because we can't allow 'vm' to be
-     * deleted until the monitor gets its own reference. */
-    virObjectRef(vm);
-
     ignore_value(virTimeMillisNow(&priv->monStart));
     monConfig = virObjectRef(priv->monConfig);
-    virObjectUnlock(vm);
 
     mon = qemuMonitorOpen(vm,
                           monConfig,
@@ -1978,15 +1973,8 @@ qemuConnectMonitor(virQEMUDriverPtr driver, virDomainObjPtr vm, int asyncJob,
                                 qemuProcessMonitorLogFree);
     }
 
-    virObjectLock(vm);
     virObjectUnref(monConfig);
-    virObjectUnref(vm);
     priv->monStart = 0;
-
-    if (!virDomainObjIsActive(vm)) {
-        qemuMonitorClose(mon);
-        mon = NULL;
-    }
     priv->mon = mon;
 
     if (qemuSecurityClearSocketLabel(driver->securityManager, vm->def) < 0) {
diff --git a/tests/qemumonitortestutils.c b/tests/qemumonitortestutils.c
index e9dff123f8..c7580c5f28 100644
--- a/tests/qemumonitortestutils.c
+++ b/tests/qemumonitortestutils.c
@@ -1085,6 +1085,8 @@ qemuMonitorCommonTestNew(virDomainXMLOptionPtr xmlopt,
         test->vm = virDomainObjNew(xmlopt);
         if (!test->vm)
             goto error;
+        if (!(test->vm->def = virDomainDefNew()))
+            goto error;
     }
 
     if (virNetSocketNewListenUNIX(path, 0700, geteuid(), getegid(),