diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 01a3fbc3ab..cc8616b7c6 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -18840,13 +18840,21 @@ virDomainWatchdogDefFormat(virBufferPtr buf,
 static int virDomainPanicDefFormat(virBufferPtr buf,
                                    virDomainPanicDefPtr def)
 {
-    virBufferAddLit(buf, "<panic>\n");
-    virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, 2);
-    if (virDomainDeviceInfoFormat(buf, &def->info, 0) < 0)
-        return -1;
-    virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, -2);
-    virBufferAddLit(buf, "</panic>\n");
+    virBuffer childrenBuf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
+    int indent = virBufferGetIndent(buf, false);
 
+    virBufferAddLit(buf, "<panic");
+    virBufferAdjustIndent(&childrenBuf, indent + 2);
+    if (virDomainDeviceInfoFormat(&childrenBuf, &def->info, 0) < 0)
+        return -1;
+    if (virBufferUse(&childrenBuf)) {
+        virBufferAddLit(buf, ">\n");
+        virBufferAddBuffer(buf, &childrenBuf);
+        virBufferAddLit(buf, "</panic>\n");
+    } else {
+        virBufferAddLit(buf, "/>\n");
+    }
+    virBufferFreeAndReset(&childrenBuf);
     return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-panic-no-address.args b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-panic-no-address.args
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3cbd688b20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-panic-no-address.args
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+LC_ALL=C PATH=/bin HOME=/home/test USER=test LOGNAME=test QEMU_AUDIO_DRV=none \
+/usr/bin/qemu -S -M pc -m 214 -smp 1 -nographic -nodefconfig -nodefaults \
+-monitor unix:/tmp/test-monitor,server,nowait -no-acpi -boot c -usb \
+-hda /dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest1 \
+-device virtio-balloon-pci,id=balloon0,bus=pci.0,addr=0x3 -device pvpanic
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-panic-no-address.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-panic-no-address.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..79f8a1e150
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-panic-no-address.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>219136</memory>
+  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>219136</currentMemory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='i686' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='hd'/>
+  </os>
+  <clock offset='utc'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu</emulator>
+    <disk type='block' device='disk'>
+      <source dev='/dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest1'/>
+      <target dev='hda' bus='ide'/>
+      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' target='0' unit='0'/>
+    </disk>
+    <controller type='usb' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='fdc' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='ide' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'/>
+    <memballoon model='virtio'/>
+    <panic/>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index 00fd044ffb..e2ad71344a 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -1522,6 +1522,9 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST("panic", QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PANIC,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE, QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG);
 
+    DO_TEST("panic-no-address", QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PANIC,
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE, QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG);
+
     DO_TEST("fips-enabled", QEMU_CAPS_ENABLE_FIPS);
 
     DO_TEST("shmem", QEMU_CAPS_PCIDEVICE,
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
index 2bec2b2d07..6608ccaf7d 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
@@ -401,6 +401,7 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST("pcihole64-q35");
 
     DO_TEST("panic");
+    DO_TEST("panic-no-address");
 
     DO_TEST_DIFFERENT("disk-backing-chains");