diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
index f56bcdcab0..e89ad43000 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
@@ -589,10 +589,14 @@ static void qemuMonitorJSONHandleIOError(qemuMonitorPtr mon, virJSONValuePtr dat
         VIR_WARN0("missing device in disk io error event");
     }
 
+#if 0
     if ((reason = virJSONValueObjectGetString(data, "reason")) == NULL) {
         VIR_WARN0("missing reason in disk io error event");
         reason = "";
     }
+#else
+    reason = "";
+#endif
 
     if ((actionID = qemuMonitorIOErrorActionTypeFromString(action)) < 0) {
         VIR_WARN("unknown disk io error action '%s'", action);