diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 00c780d841..97534c0146 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -1247,7 +1247,9 @@ qemuDomainDefPostParse(virDomainDefPtr def,
         !(def->emulator = virDomainDefGetDefaultEmulator(def, caps)))
         return ret;
 
-    qemuCaps = virQEMUCapsCacheLookup(driver->qemuCapsCache, def->emulator);
+    if (!(qemuCaps = virQEMUCapsCacheLookup(driver->qemuCapsCache,
+                                            def->emulator)))
+        goto cleanup;
 
     if (qemuDomainDefAddDefaultDevices(def, qemuCaps) < 0)
         goto cleanup;