diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 86199623cc..4cda131254 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -5467,11 +5467,14 @@ virDomainChrSourceDefValidate(const virDomainChrSourceDef *def,
         break;
 
     case VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_UNIX:
-        /* path can be auto generated */
+        /* The source path can be auto generated for certain specific
+         * types of channels, but in most cases we should report an
+         * error if the user didn't provide it */
         if (!def->data.nix.path &&
-            (!chr_def ||
-             (chr_def->targetType != VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_XEN &&
-              chr_def->targetType != VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_VIRTIO))) {
+            !(chr_def &&
+              chr_def->deviceType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_DEVICE_TYPE_CHANNEL &&
+              (chr_def->targetType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_XEN ||
+               chr_def->targetType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_VIRTIO))) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
                            _("Missing source path attribute for char device"));
             return -1;
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/serial-unix-missing-source.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/serial-unix-missing-source.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1e1221f12d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/serial-unix-missing-source.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>guest</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>1048576</memory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='aarch64' machine='virt'>hvm</type>
+  </os>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-aarch64</emulator>
+    <serial type='unix'>
+      <target type='pci-serial'/>
+    </serial>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index 35df63b2ac..949b203998 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -1417,6 +1417,7 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST("serial-unix-chardev",
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_ISA_SERIAL);
     DO_TEST_CAPS_LATEST("serial-unix-chardev");
+    DO_TEST_PARSE_ERROR("serial-unix-missing-source", NONE);
     DO_TEST("serial-tcp-chardev",
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_ISA_SERIAL);
     DO_TEST("serial-udp-chardev",