diff --git a/src/util/viridentity.c b/src/util/viridentity.c
index 22e2644c19..6636077161 100644
--- a/src/util/viridentity.c
+++ b/src/util/viridentity.c
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ virIdentityPtr virIdentityGetCurrent(void)
  */
 int virIdentitySetCurrent(virIdentityPtr ident)
 {
-    virIdentityPtr old;
+    g_autoptr(virIdentity) old = NULL;
 
     if (virIdentityInitialize() < 0)
         return -1;
@@ -120,8 +120,6 @@ int virIdentitySetCurrent(virIdentityPtr ident)
         return -1;
     }
 
-    virObjectUnref(old);
-
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -136,60 +134,56 @@ int virIdentitySetCurrent(virIdentityPtr ident)
  */
 virIdentityPtr virIdentityGetSystem(void)
 {
-    VIR_AUTOFREE(char *) username = NULL;
-    VIR_AUTOFREE(char *) groupname = NULL;
+    g_autofree char *username = NULL;
+    g_autofree char *groupname = NULL;
     unsigned long long startTime;
-    virIdentityPtr ret = NULL;
+    g_autoptr(virIdentity) ret = NULL;
 #if WITH_SELINUX
     security_context_t con;
 #endif
 
     if (!(ret = virIdentityNew()))
-        goto error;
+        return NULL;
 
     if (virIdentitySetProcessID(ret, getpid()) < 0)
-        goto error;
+        return NULL;
 
     if (virProcessGetStartTime(getpid(), &startTime) < 0)
-        goto error;
+        return NULL;
     if (startTime != 0 &&
         virIdentitySetProcessTime(ret, startTime) < 0)
-        goto error;
+        return NULL;
 
     if (!(username = virGetUserName(geteuid())))
         return ret;
     if (virIdentitySetUserName(ret, username) < 0)
-        goto error;
+        return NULL;
     if (virIdentitySetUNIXUserID(ret, getuid()) < 0)
-        goto error;
+        return NULL;
 
     if (!(groupname = virGetGroupName(getegid())))
         return ret;
     if (virIdentitySetGroupName(ret, groupname) < 0)
-        goto error;
+        return NULL;
     if (virIdentitySetUNIXGroupID(ret, getgid()) < 0)
-        goto error;
+        return NULL;
 
 #if WITH_SELINUX
     if (is_selinux_enabled() > 0) {
         if (getcon(&con) < 0) {
             virReportSystemError(errno, "%s",
                                  _("Unable to lookup SELinux process context"));
-            return ret;
+            return NULL;
         }
         if (virIdentitySetSELinuxContext(ret, con) < 0) {
             freecon(con);
-            goto error;
+            return NULL;
         }
         freecon(con);
     }
 #endif
 
-    return ret;
-
- error:
-    virObjectUnref(ret);
-    return NULL;
+    return g_steal_pointer(&ret);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/tests/viridentitytest.c b/tests/viridentitytest.c
index 1eadd6173a..db041a98a8 100644
--- a/tests/viridentitytest.c
+++ b/tests/viridentitytest.c
@@ -38,58 +38,53 @@ VIR_LOG_INIT("tests.identitytest");
 
 static int testIdentityAttrs(const void *data ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
 {
-    int ret = -1;
-    virIdentityPtr ident;
+    g_autoptr(virIdentity) ident = NULL;
     const char *val;
     int rc;
 
     if (!(ident = virIdentityNew()))
-        goto cleanup;
+        return -1;
 
     if (virIdentitySetUserName(ident, "fred") < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+        return -1;
 
     if ((rc = virIdentityGetUserName(ident, &val)) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+        return -1;
 
     if (STRNEQ_NULLABLE(val, "fred") || rc != 1) {
         VIR_DEBUG("Expected 'fred' got '%s'", NULLSTR(val));
-        goto cleanup;
+        return -1;
     }
 
     if ((rc = virIdentityGetGroupName(ident, &val)) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+        return -1;
 
     if (val != NULL || rc != 0) {
         VIR_DEBUG("Unexpected groupname attribute");
-        goto cleanup;
+        return -1;
     }
 
     if (virIdentitySetUserName(ident, "joe") >= 0) {
         VIR_DEBUG("Unexpectedly overwrote attribute");
-        goto cleanup;
+        return -1;
     }
 
     if ((rc = virIdentityGetUserName(ident, &val)) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+        return -1;
 
     if (STRNEQ_NULLABLE(val, "fred") || rc != 1) {
         VIR_DEBUG("Expected 'fred' got '%s'", NULLSTR(val));
-        goto cleanup;
+        return -1;
     }
 
-    ret = 0;
- cleanup:
-    virObjectUnref(ident);
-    return ret;
+    return 0;
 }
 
 
 static int testIdentityGetSystem(const void *data)
 {
     const char *context = data;
-    int ret = -1;
-    virIdentityPtr ident = NULL;
+    g_autoptr(virIdentity) ident = NULL;
     const char *val;
     int rc;
 
@@ -97,35 +92,32 @@ static int testIdentityGetSystem(const void *data)
     if (context) {
         VIR_DEBUG("libvirt not compiled with SELinux, skipping this test");
         ret = EXIT_AM_SKIP;
-        goto cleanup;
+        return -1;
     }
 #endif
 
     if (!(ident = virIdentityGetSystem())) {
         VIR_DEBUG("Unable to get system identity");
-        goto cleanup;
+        return -1;
     }
 
     if ((rc = virIdentityGetSELinuxContext(ident, &val)) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+        return -1;
 
     if (context == NULL) {
         if (val != NULL || rc != 0) {
             VIR_DEBUG("Unexpected SELinux context %s", NULLSTR(val));
-            goto cleanup;
+            return -1;
         }
     } else {
         if (STRNEQ_NULLABLE(val, context) || rc != 1) {
             VIR_DEBUG("Want SELinux context '%s' got '%s'",
                       context, val);
-            goto cleanup;
+            return -1;
         }
     }
 
-    ret = 0;
- cleanup:
-    virObjectUnref(ident);
-    return ret;
+    return 0;
 }
 
 static int testSetFakeSELinuxContext(const void *data ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)