diff --git a/src/lxc/lxc_process.c b/src/lxc/lxc_process.c
index cfa009f14e..d262128a50 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxc_process.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxc_process.c
@@ -1258,13 +1258,11 @@ int virLXCProcessStart(virConnectPtr conn,
         return -1;
     }
 
-    if (!vm->def->resource) {
-        virDomainResourceDef *res = g_new0(virDomainResourceDef, 1);
+    if (!vm->def->resource)
+        vm->def->resource = g_new0(virDomainResourceDef, 1);
 
-        res->partition = g_strdup("/machine");
-
-        vm->def->resource = res;
-    }
+    if (!vm->def->resource->partition)
+        vm->def->resource->partition = g_strdup("/machine");
 
     logfile = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s.log", cfg->logDir, vm->def->name);
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c b/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c
index 42dba1750d..6d4a82b3cd 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c
@@ -949,15 +949,11 @@ qemuInitCgroup(virDomainObj *vm,
     virCgroupFree(priv->cgroup);
     priv->cgroup = NULL;
 
-    if (!vm->def->resource) {
-        virDomainResourceDef *res;
+    if (!vm->def->resource)
+        vm->def->resource = g_new0(virDomainResourceDef, 1);
 
-        res = g_new0(virDomainResourceDef, 1);
-
-        res->partition = g_strdup("/machine");
-
-        vm->def->resource = res;
-    }
+    if (!vm->def->resource->partition)
+        vm->def->resource->partition = g_strdup("/machine");
 
     if (!g_path_is_absolute(vm->def->resource->partition)) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,