diff --git a/src/vmx/vmx.c b/src/vmx/vmx.c
index e5bc2d793c..227744d062 100644
--- a/src/vmx/vmx.c
+++ b/src/vmx/vmx.c
@@ -2975,9 +2975,6 @@ virVMXParseSerial(virVMXContext *ctx, virConf *conf, int port,
     char fileName_name[48] = "";
     g_autofree char *fileName = NULL;
 
-    char vspc_name[48] = "";
-    g_autofree char *vspc = NULL;
-
     char network_endPoint_name[48] = "";
     g_autofree char *network_endPoint = NULL;
 
@@ -3000,7 +2997,6 @@ virVMXParseSerial(virVMXContext *ctx, virConf *conf, int port,
     VMX_BUILD_NAME(startConnected);
     VMX_BUILD_NAME(fileType);
     VMX_BUILD_NAME(fileName);
-    VMX_BUILD_NAME(vspc);
     VMX_BUILD_NAME_EXTRA(network_endPoint, "network.endPoint");
 
     /* vmx:present */
@@ -3030,10 +3026,6 @@ virVMXParseSerial(virVMXContext *ctx, virConf *conf, int port,
     if (virVMXGetConfigString(conf, fileName_name, &fileName, true) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
-    /* vmx:fileName -> def:data.file.path */
-    if (virVMXGetConfigString(conf, vspc_name, &vspc, true) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
-
     /* vmx:network.endPoint -> def:data.tcp.listen */
     if (virVMXGetConfigString(conf, network_endPoint_name, &network_endPoint,
                               true) < 0) {
@@ -3065,21 +3057,25 @@ virVMXParseSerial(virVMXContext *ctx, virConf *conf, int port,
         (*def)->target.port = port;
         (*def)->source->type = VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_PIPE;
         (*def)->source->data.file.path = g_steal_pointer(&fileName);
-    } else if (STRCASEEQ(fileType, "network") && (vspc || !fileName || STREQ(fileName, ""))) {
-        (*def)->target.port = port;
-        (*def)->source->type = VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_NULL;
     } else if (STRCASEEQ(fileType, "network")) {
         (*def)->target.port = port;
         (*def)->source->type = VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_TCP;
 
-        if (!(parsedUri = virURIParse(fileName)))
-            goto cleanup;
+        if (!(parsedUri = virURIParse(fileName))) {
+            /*
+             * Ignore anything we cannot parse since there are many variations
+             * that could lead to unusable or non-representable serial ports
+             * which are very commonly seen and the main consumer of this driver
+             * (virt-v2v) ignores them anyway, so let's at least not error out.
+             */
+            virResetLastError();
+            (*def)->source->type = VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_NULL;
+            return 0;
+        }
 
         if (parsedUri->port == 0) {
-            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
-                           _("VMX entry '%1$s' doesn't contain a port part"),
-                           fileName_name);
-            goto cleanup;
+            (*def)->source->type = VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_NULL;
+            return 0;
         }
 
         (*def)->source->data.tcp.host = g_strdup(parsedUri->server);