diff --git a/src/anbox/qemu/pipe_connection_creator.cpp b/src/anbox/qemu/pipe_connection_creator.cpp
index 722b227cc0349ac9170067e19edcf6aef37fc618..6f062530ba8cb2c0f14dde2a788f8e96a12c988f 100644
--- a/src/anbox/qemu/pipe_connection_creator.cpp
+++ b/src/anbox/qemu/pipe_connection_creator.cpp
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ PipeConnectionCreator::client_type PipeConnectionCreator::identify_client(
   for (;;) {
     unsigned char byte[1] = {0};
     const auto err = messenger->receive_msg(ba::buffer(byte, 1));
-    if (err) break;
+    if (err) return client_type::invalid;
     buffer.push_back(byte[0]);
     if (byte[0] == 0x0) break;
   }