diff --git a/fsdev/virtfs-proxy-helper.c b/fsdev/virtfs-proxy-helper.c
index 54f7ad1c48..4c4238f62e 100644
--- a/fsdev/virtfs-proxy-helper.c
+++ b/fsdev/virtfs-proxy-helper.c
@@ -1129,14 +1129,14 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         }
     }
 
-    if (chdir("/") < 0) {
-        do_perror("chdir");
-        goto error;
-    }
     if (chroot(rpath) < 0) {
         do_perror("chroot");
         goto error;
     }
+    if (chdir("/") < 0) {
+        do_perror("chdir");
+        goto error;
+    }
 
     get_version = false;
 #ifdef FS_IOC_GETVERSION