diff --git a/src/driver.c b/src/driver.c
index 4d314b3870..ddda1e71f7 100644
--- a/src/driver.c
+++ b/src/driver.c
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ virDriverLoadModule(const char *name,
                                             abs_topbuilddir "/src/.libs",
                                             DEFAULT_DRIVER_DIR,
                                             "LIBVIRT_DRIVER_DIR")))
-        return 1;
+        return -1;
 
     ret = virDriverLoadModuleFull(modfile, regfunc);
 
diff --git a/src/storage/storage_backend.c b/src/storage/storage_backend.c
index aac2f53b01..8c1dcf31b1 100644
--- a/src/storage/storage_backend.c
+++ b/src/storage/storage_backend.c
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ virStorageDriverLoadBackendModule(const char *name,
                                             abs_topbuilddir "/src/.libs",
                                             STORAGE_BACKEND_MODULE_DIR,
                                             "LIBVIRT_STORAGE_BACKEND_DIR")))
-        return 1;
+        return -1;
 
     if ((ret = virDriverLoadModuleFull(modfile, regfunc)) != 0) {
         if (forceload) {
diff --git a/src/util/virfile.c b/src/util/virfile.c
index 5e9bd2007a..e12a584ca1 100644
--- a/src/util/virfile.c
+++ b/src/util/virfile.c
@@ -1736,6 +1736,10 @@ static bool useDirOverride;
  * run from the source tree. Otherwise it will return the
  * path in the installed location.
  *
+ * Note that this function does not actually check whether
+ * the file exists on disk, it merely builds the fully
+ * qualified path where it is supposed to exist.
+ *
  * If @envname is non-NULL it will override all other
  * directory lookup.
  *