diff --git a/qtest.c b/qtest.c
index 946b560d6a..2bca04ed4c 100644
--- a/qtest.c
+++ b/qtest.c
@@ -545,11 +545,6 @@ void qtest_init(const char *qtest_chrdev, const char *qtest_log, Error **errp)
         return;
     }
 
-    qemu_chr_add_handlers(chr, qtest_can_read, qtest_read, qtest_event, chr);
-    qemu_chr_fe_set_echo(chr, true);
-
-    inbuf = g_string_new("");
-
     if (qtest_log) {
         if (strcmp(qtest_log, "none") != 0) {
             qtest_log_fp = fopen(qtest_log, "w+");
@@ -558,6 +553,10 @@ void qtest_init(const char *qtest_chrdev, const char *qtest_log, Error **errp)
         qtest_log_fp = stderr;
     }
 
+    qemu_chr_add_handlers(chr, qtest_can_read, qtest_read, qtest_event, chr);
+    qemu_chr_fe_set_echo(chr, true);
+
+    inbuf = g_string_new("");
     qtest_chr = chr;
 }