diff --git a/internal/server/instance/drivers/driver_qemu.go b/internal/server/instance/drivers/driver_qemu.go
index b165749ad9..c60b93f0a9 100644
--- a/internal/server/instance/drivers/driver_qemu.go
+++ b/internal/server/instance/drivers/driver_qemu.go
@@ -9381,6 +9381,11 @@ func (d *qemu) ConsoleLog() (string, error) {
 	// Read and return the complete log for this instance.
 	fullLog, err := os.ReadFile(d.common.ConsoleBufferLogPath())
 	if err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
+			// If there's no log file yet, such as right at VM creation, return an empty string.
+			return "", nil
+		}
+
 		return "", err
 	}