diff --git a/cfg.mk b/cfg.mk
index c093bf2483..bbe84b3174 100644
--- a/cfg.mk
+++ b/cfg.mk
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ useless_free_options =				\
   --name=virNodeDeviceObjFree			\
   --name=virObjectUnref                         \
   --name=virObjectFreeCallback                  \
+  --name=virPCIDeviceFree                       \
   --name=virSecretDefFree			\
   --name=virStorageEncryptionFree		\
   --name=virStorageEncryptionSecretFree		\
diff --git a/src/util/virpci.c b/src/util/virpci.c
index 1346ec175e..89c1eea4cb 100644
--- a/src/util/virpci.c
+++ b/src/util/virpci.c
@@ -1671,8 +1671,7 @@ virPCIDeviceListDel(virPCIDeviceListPtr list,
                     virPCIDevicePtr dev)
 {
     virPCIDevicePtr ret = virPCIDeviceListSteal(list, dev);
-    if (ret)
-        virPCIDeviceFree(ret);
+    virPCIDeviceFree(ret);
 }
 
 int