diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c b/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
index 78efa68584..6d0ffd2013 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
@@ -1057,7 +1057,9 @@ qemuValidateDomainDeviceDefAddress(const virDomainDeviceDef *dev,
 
     switch ((virDomainDeviceAddressType) info->type) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_ADDRESS_TYPE_PCI:
-        return qemuValidateDomainDeviceDefZPCIAddress(info, qemuCaps);
+        if (qemuValidateDomainDeviceDefZPCIAddress(info, qemuCaps) < 0)
+            return -1;
+        break;
 
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_ADDRESS_TYPE_NONE:
         /* Address validation might happen before we have had a chance to