diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index a743a0628c..5f4146b4e3 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -5834,17 +5834,13 @@ virDomainStorageNetworkParseHost(xmlNodePtr hostnode,
     g_autofree char *port = NULL;
 
     memset(host, 0, sizeof(*host));
-    host->transport = VIR_STORAGE_NET_HOST_TRANS_TCP;
 
-    /* transport can be tcp (default), unix or rdma.  */
-    if ((transport = virXMLPropString(hostnode, "transport"))) {
-        host->transport = virStorageNetHostTransportTypeFromString(transport);
-        if (host->transport < 0) {
-            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
-                           _("unknown protocol transport type '%1$s'"),
-                           transport);
-            goto cleanup;
-        }
+    if (virXMLPropEnumDefault(hostnode, "transport",
+                              virStorageNetHostTransportTypeFromString,
+                              VIR_XML_PROP_NONE,
+                              &host->transport,
+                              VIR_STORAGE_NET_HOST_TRANS_TCP) < 0) {
+        goto cleanup;
     }
 
     host->socket = virXMLPropString(hostnode, "socket");
diff --git a/src/conf/storage_source_conf.h b/src/conf/storage_source_conf.h
index f99579bce2..9791fb25ee 100644
--- a/src/conf/storage_source_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/storage_source_conf.h
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ typedef struct _virStorageNetHostDef virStorageNetHostDef;
 struct _virStorageNetHostDef {
     char *name;
     unsigned int port;
-    int transport; /* virStorageNetHostTransport */
+    virStorageNetHostTransport transport;
     char *socket;  /* path to unix socket */
 };
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_backup.c b/src/qemu/qemu_backup.c
index a94869522d..e4db967e2c 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_backup.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_backup.c
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ qemuBackupPrepare(virDomainBackupDef *def)
             def->server->name = g_strdup("localhost");
         }
 
-        switch ((virStorageNetHostTransport) def->server->transport) {
+        switch (def->server->transport) {
         case VIR_STORAGE_NET_HOST_TRANS_TCP:
             /* TODO: Update qemu.conf to provide a port range,
              * probably starting at 10809, for obtaining automatic
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_block.c b/src/qemu/qemu_block.c
index d31bbde0f4..97f03002fd 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_block.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_block.c
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ qemuBlockStorageSourceBuildJSONSocketAddress(virStorageNetHostDef *host)
     g_autoptr(virJSONValue) server = NULL;
     g_autofree char *port = NULL;
 
-    switch ((virStorageNetHostTransport) host->transport) {
+    switch (host->transport) {
     case VIR_STORAGE_NET_HOST_TRANS_TCP:
         port = g_strdup_printf("%u", host->port);
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
index 5b9edadcf7..137cb4e293 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
@@ -6176,7 +6176,7 @@ qemuMonitorJSONNBDServerStart(qemuMonitor *mon,
     g_autoptr(virJSONValue) addr = NULL;
     g_autofree char *port_str = NULL;
 
-    switch ((virStorageNetHostTransport)server->transport) {
+    switch (server->transport) {
     case VIR_STORAGE_NET_HOST_TRANS_TCP:
         port_str = g_strdup_printf("%u", server->port);
         addr = qemuMonitorJSONBuildInetSocketAddress(server->name, port_str);
diff --git a/src/storage_file/storage_file_backend_gluster.c b/src/storage_file/storage_file_backend_gluster.c
index d018d5422e..950f8e81fe 100644
--- a/src/storage_file/storage_file_backend_gluster.c
+++ b/src/storage_file/storage_file_backend_gluster.c
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ virStorageFileBackendGlusterInitServer(virStorageFileBackendGlusterPriv *priv,
     const char *hoststr = NULL;
     int port = 0;
 
-    switch ((virStorageNetHostTransport) host->transport) {
+    switch (host->transport) {
     case VIR_STORAGE_NET_HOST_TRANS_RDMA:
     case VIR_STORAGE_NET_HOST_TRANS_TCP:
         hoststr = host->name;
diff --git a/src/storage_file/storage_source_backingstore.c b/src/storage_file/storage_source_backingstore.c
index 00fcfe9fd7..80681924ea 100644
--- a/src/storage_file/storage_source_backingstore.c
+++ b/src/storage_file/storage_source_backingstore.c
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ virStorageSourceParseBackingURI(virStorageSource *src,
 {
     g_autoptr(virURI) uri = NULL;
     const char *path = NULL;
+    int transport = 0;
     g_auto(GStrv) scheme = NULL;
 
     if (!(uri = virURIParse(uristr))) {
@@ -65,12 +66,14 @@ virStorageSourceParseBackingURI(virStorageSource *src,
         return -1;
     }
 
-    if (scheme[1] &&
-        (src->hosts->transport = virStorageNetHostTransportTypeFromString(scheme[1])) < 0) {
-        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
-                       _("invalid protocol transport type '%1$s'"),
-                       scheme[1]);
-        return -1;
+    if (scheme[1]) {
+        if ((transport = virStorageNetHostTransportTypeFromString(scheme[1])) < 0) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
+                           _("invalid protocol transport type '%1$s'"),
+                           scheme[1]);
+            return -1;
+        }
+        src->hosts->transport = transport;
     }
 
     if (uri->query) {