diff --git a/kvm.c b/kvm.c
index 8a8aa80..5c604b4 100644
--- a/kvm.c
+++ b/kvm.c
@@ -298,7 +298,8 @@ static bool load_bzimage(struct kvm *self, int fd, const char *kernel_cmdline)
 	if (lseek(fd, 0, SEEK_SET) < 0)
 		die_perror("lseek");
 
-	read(fd, &boot, sizeof(boot));
+	if (read(fd, &boot, sizeof(boot)) != sizeof(boot))
+		die_perror("read");
 
         if (memcmp(&boot.hdr.header, BZIMAGE_MAGIC, strlen(BZIMAGE_MAGIC)) != 0)
 		return false;