diff --git a/src/host.cpp b/src/host.cpp
index b45b20e8b..e6ada940b 100644
--- a/src/host.cpp
+++ b/src/host.cpp
@@ -705,6 +705,11 @@ static bool parse_params(char *optarg)
         char *save_ptr = nullptr;
         while ((item = strtok_r(optarg, ",", &save_ptr)) != nullptr) {
                 char *key_cstr = item;
+                if (!validate_param(key_cstr)) {
+                        LOG(LOG_LEVEL_ERROR) << "Unknown parameter: " << key_cstr << "\n";
+                        LOG(LOG_LEVEL_INFO) << "Type '" << uv_argv[0] << " --param help' for list.\n";
+                        return false;
+                }
                 if (strchr(item, '=') != nullptr) {
                         char *val_cstr = strchr(item, '=') + 1;
                         *strchr(item, '=') = '\0';
@@ -712,11 +717,6 @@ static bool parse_params(char *optarg)
                 } else {
                         commandline_params[key_cstr] = string();
                 }
-                if (!validate_param(key_cstr)) {
-                        LOG(LOG_LEVEL_ERROR) << "Unknown parameter: " << key_cstr << "\n";
-                        LOG(LOG_LEVEL_INFO) << "Type '" << uv_argv[0] << " --param help' for list.\n";
-                        return false;
-                }
                 optarg = nullptr;
         }
         return true;