diff --git a/src/util/virnuma.c b/src/util/virnuma.c
index 06520f78eb..b8d76f4074 100644
--- a/src/util/virnuma.c
+++ b/src/util/virnuma.c
@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@ virNumaSetupMemoryPolicy(virDomainNumatuneMemMode mode,
     size_t i;
     int maxnode = 0;
 
+    if (!nodeset)
+        return 0;
+
     if (!virNumaNodesetIsAvailable(nodeset))
         return -1;