diff --git a/virtcontainers/sandbox.go b/virtcontainers/sandbox.go
index f02ebbbdc..a9cd507a7 100644
--- a/virtcontainers/sandbox.go
+++ b/virtcontainers/sandbox.go
@@ -967,11 +967,8 @@ func (s *Sandbox) startVM() (err error) {
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			err = vm.assignSandbox(s)
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			return nil
+
+			return vm.assignSandbox(s)
 		}
 
 		return s.hypervisor.startSandbox(vmStartTimeout)