diff --git a/bootdevice.c b/bootdevice.c
index 7f07507a95b6..9de34babb047 100644
--- a/bootdevice.c
+++ b/bootdevice.c
@@ -49,12 +49,20 @@ void qemu_register_boot_set(QEMUBootSetHandler *func, void *opaque)
 
 void qemu_boot_set(const char *boot_order, Error **errp)
 {
+    Error *local_err = NULL;
+
     if (!boot_set_handler) {
         error_setg(errp, "no function defined to set boot device list for"
                          " this architecture");
         return;
     }
 
+    validate_bootdevices(boot_order, &local_err);
+    if (local_err) {
+        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+        return;
+    }
+
     if (boot_set_handler(boot_set_opaque, boot_order)) {
         error_setg(errp, "setting boot device list failed");
         return;