diff --git a/src/xm_internal.c b/src/xm_internal.c
index b7f9e67523..71b852e048 100644
--- a/src/xm_internal.c
+++ b/src/xm_internal.c
@@ -1160,7 +1160,6 @@ xenXMDomainConfigParse(virConnectPtr conn, virConfPtr conf) {
                 goto skippci;
 
             /* pci=['0000:00:1b.0','0000:00:13.0'] */
-            key = list->str;
             if (!(key = list->str))
                 goto skippci;
             if (!(nextkey = strchr(key, ':')))