diff --git a/src/util/virhostdev.c b/src/util/virhostdev.c
index 41d4e8d936..880ca083d4 100644
--- a/src/util/virhostdev.c
+++ b/src/util/virhostdev.c
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ virHostdevNetDevice(virDomainHostdevDefPtr hostdev,
         if (virPCIGetNetName(sysfs_path, 0, NULL, linkdev) < 0)
             return -1;
 
-        if (!linkdev) {
+        if (!(*linkdev)) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
                            _("The device at %s has no network device name"),
                            sysfs_path);