diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 5f35cf8644..180dd88370 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -6134,6 +6134,12 @@ qemuDomainChgIOThread(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
     virDomainDefPtr persistentDef;
     int ret = -1;
 
+    if (iothread_id == 0) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG, "%s",
+                       _("invalid value of 0 for iothread_id"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     cfg = virQEMUDriverGetConfig(driver);
 
     priv = vm->privateData;