diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 454e39fb11..e58fa3fe58 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -6140,7 +6140,7 @@ qemuDomainCreateWithFlags(virDomainPtr dom, unsigned int flags)
     virNWFilterReadLockFilterUpdates();
 
     if (!(vm = qemuDomObjFromDomain(dom)))
-        return -1;
+        goto cleanup;
 
     if (virDomainCreateWithFlagsEnsureACL(dom->conn, vm->def) < 0)
         goto cleanup;