diff --git a/sys/kern/kern_kthread.c b/sys/kern/kern_kthread.c
--- a/sys/kern/kern_kthread.c
+++ b/sys/kern/kern_kthread.c
@@ -175,9 +175,9 @@
 
 	error = kthread_create((void (*)(void *))kp->func, NULL,
 				kp->global_threadpp, "%s", kp->arg0);
-	lwkt_setpri(*kp->global_threadpp, TDPRI_KERN_DAEMON);
 	if (error)
 		panic("kproc_start: %s: error %d", kp->arg0, error);
+	lwkt_setpri(*kp->global_threadpp, TDPRI_KERN_DAEMON);
 }
 
 /*