diff --git a/qga/main.c b/qga/main.c
index eccfa33871..72c39b042f 100644
--- a/qga/main.c
+++ b/qga/main.c
@@ -1430,7 +1430,6 @@ static GAState *initialize_agent(GAConfig *config, int socket_activation)
         if (config->daemonize) {
             /* delay opening/locking of pidfile till filesystems are unfrozen */
             s->deferred_options.pid_filepath = config->pid_filepath;
-            become_daemon(NULL);
         }
         if (config->log_filepath) {
             /* delay opening the log file till filesystems are unfrozen */
@@ -1438,9 +1437,6 @@ static GAState *initialize_agent(GAConfig *config, int socket_activation)
         }
         ga_disable_logging(s);
     } else {
-        if (config->daemonize) {
-            become_daemon(config->pid_filepath);
-        }
         if (config->log_filepath) {
             FILE *log_file = ga_open_logfile(config->log_filepath);
             if (!log_file) {
@@ -1487,6 +1483,20 @@ static GAState *initialize_agent(GAConfig *config, int socket_activation)
 
     ga_apply_command_filters(s);
 
+    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 (config->daemonize) {
+        if (ga_is_frozen(s)) {
+            become_daemon(NULL);
+        } else {
+            become_daemon(config->pid_filepath);
+        }
+    }
+
     ga_state = s;
     return s;
 }
@@ -1513,8 +1523,9 @@ static void cleanup_agent(GAState *s)
 
 static int run_agent_once(GAState *s)
 {
-    if (!channel_init(s, s->config->method, s->config->channel_path,
-                      s->socket_activation ? FIRST_SOCKET_ACTIVATION_FD : -1)) {
+    if (!s->channel &&
+        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 EXIT_FAILURE;
     }
@@ -1523,6 +1534,7 @@ static int run_agent_once(GAState *s)
 
     if (s->channel) {
         ga_channel_free(s->channel);
+        s->channel = NULL;
     }
 
     return EXIT_SUCCESS;