diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 32db19e3b9..59fea15488 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -3757,21 +3757,18 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                 qdev_prop_register_global(&kvm_pit_lost_tick_policy);
                 break;
             }
-            case QEMU_OPTION_accel: {
-                QemuOpts *accel_opts;
-
+            case QEMU_OPTION_accel:
                 accel_opts = qemu_opts_parse_noisily(qemu_find_opts("accel"),
                                                      optarg, true);
                 optarg = qemu_opt_get(accel_opts, "accel");
                 if (!optarg || is_help_option(optarg)) {
                     error_printf("Possible accelerators: kvm, xen, hax, tcg\n");
-                    exit(1);
+                    exit(0);
                 }
-                accel_opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("machine"), NULL,
-                                              false, &error_abort);
-                qemu_opt_set(accel_opts, "accel", optarg, &error_abort);
+                opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("machine"), NULL,
+                                        false, &error_abort);
+                qemu_opt_set(opts, "accel", optarg, &error_abort);
                 break;
-            }
             case QEMU_OPTION_usb:
                 olist = qemu_find_opts("machine");
                 qemu_opts_parse_noisily(olist, "usb=on", false);