diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_agent.c b/src/qemu/qemu_agent.c
index 5735ed8989..f979f82b49 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_agent.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_agent.c
@@ -710,7 +710,7 @@ qemuAgentIO(int watch, int fd, int events, void *opaque)
 
 qemuAgentPtr
 qemuAgentOpen(virDomainObjPtr vm,
-              virDomainChrSourceDefPtr config,
+              const virDomainChrSourceDef *config,
               qemuAgentCallbacksPtr cb)
 {
     qemuAgentPtr mon;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_agent.h b/src/qemu/qemu_agent.h
index 7cbf8ebb5e..c092504a38 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_agent.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_agent.h
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ struct _qemuAgentCallbacks {
 
 
 qemuAgentPtr qemuAgentOpen(virDomainObjPtr vm,
-                           virDomainChrSourceDefPtr config,
+                           const virDomainChrSourceDef *config,
                            qemuAgentCallbacksPtr cb);
 
 void qemuAgentClose(qemuAgentPtr mon);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 55d5e7103c..e8c291fc67 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -3704,10 +3704,9 @@ qemuDomainSupportsBlockJobs(virDomainObjPtr vm,
  * Returns the pointer to the channel definition that is used to access the
  * guest agent if the agent is configured or NULL otherwise.
  */
-virDomainChrSourceDefPtr
+virDomainChrDefPtr
 qemuFindAgentConfig(virDomainDefPtr def)
 {
-    virDomainChrSourceDefPtr config = NULL;
     size_t i;
 
     for (i = 0; i < def->nchannels; i++) {
@@ -3716,13 +3715,11 @@ qemuFindAgentConfig(virDomainDefPtr def)
         if (channel->targetType != VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_VIRTIO)
             continue;
 
-        if (STREQ_NULLABLE(channel->target.name, "org.qemu.guest_agent.0")) {
-            config = &channel->source;
-            break;
-        }
+        if (STREQ_NULLABLE(channel->target.name, "org.qemu.guest_agent.0"))
+            return channel;
     }
 
-    return config;
+    return NULL;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
index 82495dc180..7fc4ffface 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
@@ -487,7 +487,7 @@ int qemuDomainAlignMemorySizes(virDomainDefPtr def);
 void qemuDomainMemoryDeviceAlignSize(virDomainDefPtr def,
                                      virDomainMemoryDefPtr mem);
 
-virDomainChrSourceDefPtr qemuFindAgentConfig(virDomainDefPtr def);
+virDomainChrDefPtr qemuFindAgentConfig(virDomainDefPtr def);
 
 bool qemuDomainMachineIsQ35(const virDomainDef *def);
 bool qemuDomainMachineIsI440FX(const virDomainDef *def);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 730eb2cc21..3d9e0e580c 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ qemuConnectAgent(virQEMUDriverPtr driver, virDomainObjPtr vm)
     qemuDomainObjPrivatePtr priv = vm->privateData;
     int ret = -1;
     qemuAgentPtr agent = NULL;
-    virDomainChrSourceDefPtr config = qemuFindAgentConfig(vm->def);
+    virDomainChrDefPtr config = qemuFindAgentConfig(vm->def);
 
     if (!config)
         return 0;
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ qemuConnectAgent(virQEMUDriverPtr driver, virDomainObjPtr vm)
     virObjectUnlock(vm);
 
     agent = qemuAgentOpen(vm,
-                          config,
+                          &config->source,
                           &agentCallbacks);
 
     virObjectLock(vm);