diff --git a/src/util/virobject.h b/src/util/virobject.h
index a1e16aee77..4b941ac215 100644
--- a/src/util/virobject.h
+++ b/src/util/virobject.h
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ virObjectRWLockableNew(virClass *klass)
 
 virLockGuard
 virObjectLockGuard(void *lockableobj)
-    ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1);
+    ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
 
 void
 virObjectLock(void *lockableobj)