diff --git a/src/util/command.c b/src/util/command.c
index 288958eb3f..a2f7ff6223 100644
--- a/src/util/command.c
+++ b/src/util/command.c
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ virCommandNewArgList(const char *binary, ...)
     const char *arg;
 
     if (!cmd || cmd->has_error)
-        return NULL;
+        return cmd;
 
     va_start(list, binary);
     while ((arg = va_arg(list, const char *)) != NULL)