diff --git a/ebpf/ebpf_rss.c b/ebpf/ebpf_rss.c
index b64e9da3e3..926392b3c5 100644
--- a/ebpf/ebpf_rss.c
+++ b/ebpf/ebpf_rss.c
@@ -106,9 +106,7 @@ bool ebpf_rss_load(struct EBPFRSSContext *ctx, Error **errp)
 {
     struct rss_bpf *rss_bpf_ctx;
 
-    if (ebpf_rss_is_loaded(ctx)) {
-        return false;
-    }
+    g_assert(!ebpf_rss_is_loaded(ctx));
 
     rss_bpf_ctx = rss_bpf__open();
     if (rss_bpf_ctx == NULL) {
diff --git a/hw/net/virtio-net.c b/hw/net/virtio-net.c
index 3b85560f6f..f5d93eb400 100644
--- a/hw/net/virtio-net.c
+++ b/hw/net/virtio-net.c
@@ -1363,9 +1363,7 @@ static bool virtio_net_load_ebpf(VirtIONet *n, Error **errp)
         return virtio_net_load_ebpf_fds(n, errp);
     }
 
-    ebpf_rss_load(&n->ebpf_rss, &err);
-    /* Beware, ebpf_rss_load() can return false with @err unset */
-    if (err) {
+    if (!ebpf_rss_load(&n->ebpf_rss, &err)) {
         warn_report_err(err);
     }
     return true;