diff --git a/src/util/virauthconfig.c b/src/util/virauthconfig.c
index 6064e4ad85..b58937c375 100644
--- a/src/util/virauthconfig.c
+++ b/src/util/virauthconfig.c
@@ -121,6 +121,13 @@ int virAuthConfigLookup(virAuthConfigPtr auth,
     if (virAsprintf(&authgroup, "auth-%s-%s", service, hostname) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
+    if (!virKeyFileHasGroup(auth->keyfile, authgroup)) {
+       VIR_FREE(authgroup);
+       if (virAsprintf(&authgroup, "auth-%s-%s", service, "default") < 0){
+           goto cleanup;
+       }
+    }
+
     if (!virKeyFileHasGroup(auth->keyfile, authgroup)) {
         ret = 0;
         goto cleanup;