diff --git a/qga/main.c b/qga/main.c
index 8d341ffdf1e1d45016c4f1ccd4534cd2a235382b..b7acdd01eb91fdf04ed3cdb573f363189bfcb9e9 100644
--- a/qga/main.c
+++ b/qga/main.c
@@ -1480,8 +1480,12 @@ static GAState *initialize_agent(GAConfig *config, int socket_activation)
 
     if (!channel_init(s, s->config->method, s->config->channel_path,
                       s->socket_activation ? FIRST_SOCKET_ACTIVATION_FD : -1)) {
-        g_critical("failed to initialize guest agent channel");
-        return NULL;
+        if (s->config->retry_path) {
+            g_info("failed to initialize guest agent channel, will retry");
+        } else {
+            g_critical("failed to initialize guest agent channel");
+            return NULL;
+        }
     }
 
     if (config->daemonize) {