diff --git a/PVE/API2/Qemu.pm b/PVE/API2/Qemu.pm
index 2418b7c3..e8de4eac 100644
--- a/PVE/API2/Qemu.pm
+++ b/PVE/API2/Qemu.pm
@@ -2401,6 +2401,16 @@ __PACKAGE__->register_method({
 	return $rpcenv->fork_worker('qmreset', $vmid, $authuser, $realcmd);
     }});
 
+my sub vm_is_paused {
+    my ($vmid) = @_;
+    my $qmpstatus = eval {
+	PVE::QemuConfig::assert_config_exists_on_node($vmid);
+	mon_cmd($vmid, "query-status");
+    };
+    warn "$@\n" if $@;
+    return $qmpstatus && $qmpstatus->{status} eq "paused";
+}
+
 __PACKAGE__->register_method({
     name => 'vm_shutdown',
     path => '{vmid}/status/shutdown',
@@ -2469,13 +2479,7 @@ __PACKAGE__->register_method({
 	#
 	# checking the qmp status here to get feedback to the gui/cli/api
 	# and the status query should not take too long
-	my $qmpstatus = eval {
-	    PVE::QemuConfig::assert_config_exists_on_node($vmid);
-	    mon_cmd($vmid, "query-status");
-	};
-	my $err = $@ if $@;
-
-	if (!$err && $qmpstatus->{status} eq "paused") {
+	if (vm_is_paused($vmid)) {
 	    if ($param->{forceStop}) {
 		warn "VM is paused - stop instead of shutdown\n";
 		$shutdown = 0;
@@ -2551,15 +2555,7 @@ __PACKAGE__->register_method({
 	my $node = extract_param($param, 'node');
 	my $vmid = extract_param($param, 'vmid');
 
-	my $qmpstatus = eval {
-	    PVE::QemuConfig::assert_config_exists_on_node($vmid);
-	    mon_cmd($vmid, "query-status");
-	};
-	my $err = $@ if $@;
-
-	if (!$err && $qmpstatus->{status} eq "paused") {
-	    die "VM is paused - cannot shutdown\n";
-	}
+	die "VM is paused - cannot shutdown\n" if vm_is_paused($vmid);
 
 	die "VM $vmid not running\n" if !PVE::QemuServer::check_running($vmid);