diff --git a/lib/internal/vfs/file_system.js b/lib/internal/vfs/file_system.js
index ae38639582581b..7a473eed6728f0 100644
--- a/lib/internal/vfs/file_system.js
+++ b/lib/internal/vfs/file_system.js
@@ -143,7 +143,13 @@ class VirtualFileSystem {
     this[kMounted] = true;
     debug('mount %s', this[kMountPoint]);
     loadVfsSetup();
-    registerVFS(this);
+    try {
+      registerVFS(this);
+    } catch (err) {
+      this[kMountPoint] = null;
+      this[kMounted] = false;
+      throw err;
+    }
     return this;
   }
 
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-vfs-mount-errors.js b/test/parallel/test-vfs-mount-errors.js
index 905f1c6d0683ab..371456eb609d34 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-vfs-mount-errors.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-vfs-mount-errors.js
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ const { vfsState } = require('internal/fs/utils');
 const baseMountPoint = path.resolve('/tmp/vfs-mount-errors-' + process.pid);
 let mountCounter = 0;
 const nextMount = () => baseMountPoint + '-' + (mountCounter++);
+function assertUnmounted(instance, mountPoint) {
+  assert.strictEqual(instance.mounted, false);
+  assert.strictEqual(instance.mountPoint, null);
+  assert.strictEqual(instance.shouldHandle(mountPoint), false);
+}
 
 // EXDEV: rename across two different VFS instances
 {
@@ -130,6 +135,7 @@ const nextMount = () => baseMountPoint + '-' + (mountCounter++);
   const b = vfs.create();
   a.mount(parent);
   assert.throws(() => b.mount(child), { code: 'ERR_INVALID_STATE' });
+  assertUnmounted(b, child);
   a.unmount();
 
   // Reverse direction: child first, then parent rejected
@@ -137,6 +143,7 @@ const nextMount = () => baseMountPoint + '-' + (mountCounter++);
   const d = vfs.create();
   c.mount(child);
   assert.throws(() => d.mount(parent), { code: 'ERR_INVALID_STATE' });
+  assertUnmounted(d, parent);
   c.unmount();
 }
 
@@ -147,6 +154,7 @@ const nextMount = () => baseMountPoint + '-' + (mountCounter++);
   const b = vfs.create();
   a.mount(m);
   assert.throws(() => b.mount(m), { code: 'ERR_INVALID_STATE' });
+  assertUnmounted(b, m);
   a.unmount();
 }