diff --git a/gns3server/compute/qemu/qemu_vm.py b/gns3server/compute/qemu/qemu_vm.py
index e8c73774e..9309e25b5 100644
--- a/gns3server/compute/qemu/qemu_vm.py
+++ b/gns3server/compute/qemu/qemu_vm.py
@@ -2042,6 +2042,7 @@ class QemuVM(KernelDatapathMixin, BaseNode):
             return self._spice_with_agent_options(self.console)
         elif self._console_type != "none":
             raise QemuError(f"Console type {self._console_type} is unknown")
+        return []
 
     def _aux_options(self):
 
diff --git a/tests/compute/qemu/test_qemu_vm.py b/tests/compute/qemu/test_qemu_vm.py
index 7b39bc4ae..1f4953c27 100644
--- a/tests/compute/qemu/test_qemu_vm.py
+++ b/tests/compute/qemu/test_qemu_vm.py
@@ -624,6 +624,22 @@ async def test_build_command(vm, fake_qemu_binary):
         ]
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_build_command_console_none(vm):
+    """
+    A headless QEMU node (console_type none) builds a command line without a
+    serial device: the console options for "none" used to fall through and
+    return None, which made node start fail with a TypeError.
+    """
+
+    vm.console_type = "none"
+    os.environ["DISPLAY"] = "0:0"
+    with asyncio_patch("asyncio.create_subprocess_exec", return_value=MagicMock()):
+        cmd = await vm._build_command()
+    assert "-serial" not in cmd
+    assert "-netdev" in cmd
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_build_command_manual_uuid(vm):
     """