diff --git a/hw/vfio/container.c b/hw/vfio/container.c
index 4c2816b574..dda8d2ab1f 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/container.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/container.c
@@ -86,8 +86,10 @@ int vfio_container_dma_map(VFIOContainer *bcontainer,
         unsigned long start = vaddr - qemu_ram_get_host_addr(rb);
         unsigned long offset = qemu_ram_get_fd_offset(rb);
 
-        return vioc->dma_map_file(bcontainer, iova, size, mfd, start + offset,
-                                  readonly);
+        if (!vioc->dma_map_file(bcontainer, iova, size, mfd, start + offset,
+                                readonly)) {
+            return 0;
+        }
     }
     g_assert(vioc->dma_map);
     return vioc->dma_map(bcontainer, iova, size, vaddr, readonly, mr);