diff --git a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-device.c b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-device.c
index 245abd8aae..3380bfc0c5 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-device.c
+++ b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-device.c
@@ -61,7 +61,6 @@ static void handle_9p_output(VirtIODevice *vdev, VirtQueue *vq)
         }
         QEMU_BUILD_BUG_ON(sizeof(out) != 7);
 
-        v->elems[pdu->idx] = elem;
         len = iov_to_buf(elem->out_sg, elem->out_num, 0,
                          &out, sizeof(out));
         if (len != sizeof(out)) {
@@ -70,6 +69,8 @@ static void handle_9p_output(VirtIODevice *vdev, VirtQueue *vq)
             goto out_free_req;
         }
 
+        v->elems[pdu->idx] = elem;
+
         pdu_submit(pdu, &out);
     }