diff --git a/src/libxl/libxl_driver.c b/src/libxl/libxl_driver.c
index e2797d5275..8087c27797 100644
--- a/src/libxl/libxl_driver.c
+++ b/src/libxl/libxl_driver.c
@@ -3312,6 +3312,7 @@ libxlDomainAttachDeviceConfig(virDomainDefPtr vmdef, virDomainDeviceDefPtr dev)
 
             if (virDomainHostdevInsert(vmdef, hostdev) < 0)
                 return -1;
+            dev->data.hostdev = NULL;
             break;
 
         default: