diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 6aeef3e5c5..d3156de522 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -28487,7 +28487,7 @@ virDomainDefFormatInternalSetRootName(virDomainDefPtr def,
         xmlIndentTreeOutput = 1;
         xmlbuf = xmlBufferCreate();
         if (xmlNodeDump(xmlbuf, def->metadata->doc, def->metadata,
-                        virBufferGetIndent(buf, false) / 2, 1) < 0) {
+                        virBufferGetIndent(buf) / 2, 1) < 0) {
             xmlBufferFree(xmlbuf);
             xmlIndentTreeOutput = oldIndentTreeOutput;
             goto error;
diff --git a/src/conf/network_conf.c b/src/conf/network_conf.c
index 7f8e43b25c..1d20d28f46 100644
--- a/src/conf/network_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/network_conf.c
@@ -2458,7 +2458,7 @@ virNetworkDefFormatBuf(virBufferPtr buf,
         xmlIndentTreeOutput = 1;
         xmlbuf = xmlBufferCreate();
         if (xmlNodeDump(xmlbuf, def->metadata->doc, def->metadata,
-                        virBufferGetIndent(buf, false) / 2, 1) < 0) {
+                        virBufferGetIndent(buf) / 2, 1) < 0) {
             xmlBufferFree(xmlbuf);
             xmlIndentTreeOutput = oldIndentTreeOutput;
             goto error;
diff --git a/src/util/virbuffer.c b/src/util/virbuffer.c
index 0d2721b118..bf703fe7a5 100644
--- a/src/util/virbuffer.c
+++ b/src/util/virbuffer.c
@@ -102,18 +102,12 @@ virBufferSetIndent(virBufferPtr buf, int indent)
 /**
  * virBufferGetIndent:
  * @buf: the buffer
- * @dynamic: if false, return set value; if true, return 0 unless next
- * append would be affected by auto-indent
  *
- * Return the current auto-indent value, or -1 if there has been an error.
+ * Return the current auto-indent setting of @buf.
  */
-int
-virBufferGetIndent(const virBuffer *buf, bool dynamic)
+size_t
+virBufferGetIndent(const virBuffer *buf)
 {
-    if (!buf || buf->error)
-        return -1;
-    if (dynamic && buf->use && buf->content[buf->use - 1] != '\n')
-        return 0;
     return buf->indent;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/util/virbuffer.h b/src/util/virbuffer.h
index 7156d9d0d8..6c41a7ea20 100644
--- a/src/util/virbuffer.h
+++ b/src/util/virbuffer.h
@@ -107,9 +107,9 @@ void virBufferSetIndent(virBufferPtr, int indent);
  * child buffer.
  */
 #define virBufferSetChildIndent(childBuf_, parentBuf_) \
-    virBufferSetIndent(childBuf_, virBufferGetIndent(parentBuf_, false) + 2)
+    virBufferSetIndent(childBuf_, virBufferGetIndent(parentBuf_) + 2)
 
-int virBufferGetIndent(const virBuffer *buf, bool dynamic);
+size_t virBufferGetIndent(const virBuffer *buf);
 size_t virBufferGetEffectiveIndent(const virBuffer *buf);
 
 void virBufferTrim(virBufferPtr buf, const char *trim, int len);
diff --git a/tests/testutilsqemuschema.c b/tests/testutilsqemuschema.c
index 42b2550a03..9a1b1fea07 100644
--- a/tests/testutilsqemuschema.c
+++ b/tests/testutilsqemuschema.c
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ testQEMUSchemaValidateAlternate(virJSONValuePtr obj,
 
     virBufferAddLit(debug, "(\n");
     virBufferAdjustIndent(debug, 3);
-    indent = virBufferGetIndent(debug, false);
+    indent = virBufferGetIndent(debug);
 
     n = virJSONValueArraySize(members);
     for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
diff --git a/tests/virbuftest.c b/tests/virbuftest.c
index 0c806908e1..34aa8b678b 100644
--- a/tests/virbuftest.c
+++ b/tests/virbuftest.c
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ static int testBufAutoIndent(const void *data G_GNUC_UNUSED)
     char *result = NULL;
     int ret = 0;
 
-    if (virBufferGetIndent(buf, false) != 0 ||
+    if (virBufferGetIndent(buf) != 0 ||
         virBufferGetEffectiveIndent(buf) != 0) {
         VIR_TEST_DEBUG("Wrong indentation");
         ret = -1;
@@ -28,28 +28,28 @@ static int testBufAutoIndent(const void *data G_GNUC_UNUSED)
         VIR_TEST_DEBUG("Wrong content");
         ret = -1;
     }
-    if (virBufferGetIndent(buf, false) != 3 ||
+    if (virBufferGetIndent(buf) != 3 ||
         virBufferGetEffectiveIndent(buf) != 3 ||
         virBufferError(buf)) {
         VIR_TEST_DEBUG("Wrong indentation");
         ret = -1;
     }
     virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, -2);
-    if (virBufferGetIndent(buf, false) != 1 ||
+    if (virBufferGetIndent(buf) != 1 ||
         virBufferGetEffectiveIndent(buf) != 1 ||
         virBufferError(buf)) {
         VIR_TEST_DEBUG("Wrong indentation");
         ret = -1;
     }
     virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, -3);
-    if (virBufferGetIndent(buf, false) != 0 ||
+    if (virBufferGetIndent(buf) != 0 ||
         virBufferGetEffectiveIndent(buf) != 0) {
         VIR_TEST_DEBUG("Indentation level not truncated");
         ret = -1;
     }
     virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, 3);
     virBufferFreeAndReset(buf);
-    if (virBufferGetIndent(buf, false) != 0 ||
+    if (virBufferGetIndent(buf) != 0 ||
         virBufferGetEffectiveIndent(buf) != 0 ||
         virBufferError(buf)) {
         VIR_TEST_DEBUG("Reset didn't clear indentation");
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ static int testBufAutoIndent(const void *data G_GNUC_UNUSED)
         VIR_TEST_DEBUG("Wrong content");
         ret = -1;
     }
-    if (virBufferGetIndent(buf, false) != 2 ||
+    if (virBufferGetIndent(buf) != 2 ||
         virBufferGetEffectiveIndent(buf) != 0) {
         VIR_TEST_DEBUG("Wrong indentation");
         ret = -1;