diff --git a/android/virtmgr/src/crosvm.rs b/android/virtmgr/src/crosvm.rs
index b2283d0..b28834a 100644
--- a/android/virtmgr/src/crosvm.rs
+++ b/android/virtmgr/src/crosvm.rs
@@ -1244,6 +1244,9 @@
     }
 
     for shared_path in &config.shared_paths {
+        if let Err(e) = wait_for_file(&shared_path.socket_path, 5) {
+            bail!("Error waiting for file: {}", e);
+        }
         command
             .arg("--vhost-user-fs")
             .arg(format!("{},tag={}", &shared_path.socket_path, &shared_path.tag));
@@ -1269,6 +1272,23 @@
     Ok(result)
 }
 
+fn wait_for_file(path: &str, timeout_secs: u64) -> Result<(), std::io::Error> {
+    let start_time = std::time::Instant::now();
+    let timeout = Duration::from_secs(timeout_secs);
+
+    while start_time.elapsed() < timeout {
+        if std::fs::metadata(path).is_ok() {
+            return Ok(()); // File exists
+        }
+        thread::sleep(Duration::from_millis(100));
+    }
+
+    Err(std::io::Error::new(
+        std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound,
+        format!("File not found within {} seconds: {}", timeout_secs, path),
+    ))
+}
+
 /// Ensure that the configuration has a valid combination of fields set, or return an error if not.
 fn validate_config(config: &CrosvmConfig) -> Result<(), Error> {
     if config.bootloader.is_none() && config.kernel.is_none() {