diff --git a/PVE/API2/Qemu.pm b/PVE/API2/Qemu.pm
index 84112932..f6d4eaec 100644
--- a/PVE/API2/Qemu.pm
+++ b/PVE/API2/Qemu.pm
@@ -2398,6 +2398,9 @@ __PACKAGE__->register_method({
 	    die "you can't convert a template to a template\n" 
 		if PVE::QemuServer::is_template($conf) && !$disk;
 
+	    die "you can't convert a VM to template if VM is running\n" 
+		if check_running($vmid);
+
 	    my $realcmd = sub {
 		PVE::QemuServer::template_create($vmid, $conf, $disk);
 	    };
diff --git a/PVE/QemuServer.pm b/PVE/QemuServer.pm
index 194b678d..4d2710aa 100644
--- a/PVE/QemuServer.pm
+++ b/PVE/QemuServer.pm
@@ -4441,9 +4441,6 @@ sub has_feature {
 sub template_create {
     my ($vmid, $conf, $disk) = @_;
 
-    my $running = check_running($vmid);
-    die "you can't convert a vm to template if vm is running vm\n" if $running;
-
     my $storecfg = PVE::Storage::config();
 
     foreach_drive($conf, sub {