diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 9c9e3334f0..b396679521 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -7821,21 +7821,20 @@ virDomainHostdevDefParseXMLCaps(xmlNodePtr node ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
     return ret;
 }
 
-int
-virDomainDeviceFindControllerModel(const virDomainDef *def,
-                                   virDomainDeviceInfoPtr info,
-                                   int controllerType)
+
+virDomainControllerDefPtr
+virDomainDeviceFindSCSIController(const virDomainDef *def,
+                                  virDomainDeviceInfoPtr info)
 {
-    int model = -1;
     size_t i;
 
     for (i = 0; i < def->ncontrollers; i++) {
-        if (def->controllers[i]->type == controllerType &&
+        if (def->controllers[i]->type == VIR_DOMAIN_CONTROLLER_TYPE_SCSI &&
             def->controllers[i]->idx == info->addr.drive.controller)
-            model = def->controllers[i]->model;
+            return def->controllers[i];
     }
 
-    return model;
+    return NULL;
 }
 
 virDomainDiskDefPtr
@@ -17804,17 +17803,16 @@ virDomainDefMaybeAddHostdevSCSIcontroller(virDomainDefPtr def)
         hostdev = def->hostdevs[i];
         if (virHostdevIsSCSIDevice(hostdev) &&
             (int)hostdev->info->addr.drive.controller > maxController) {
-            int model = -1;
+            virDomainControllerDefPtr cont;
 
             maxController = hostdev->info->addr.drive.controller;
             /* We may be creating a new controller because this one is full.
              * So let's grab the model from it and update the model we're
              * going to add as long as this one isn't undefined. The premise
              * being keeping the same controller model for all SCSI hostdevs. */
-            model = virDomainDeviceFindControllerModel(def, hostdev->info,
-                                                       VIR_DOMAIN_CONTROLLER_TYPE_SCSI);
-            if (model != -1)
-                newModel = model;
+            cont = virDomainDeviceFindSCSIController(def, hostdev->info);
+            if (cont && cont->model != -1)
+                newModel = cont->model;
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index ed85260926..21e0045157 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -2759,9 +2759,9 @@ int virDomainDiskSetDriver(virDomainDiskDefPtr def, const char *name)
     ATTRIBUTE_RETURN_CHECK;
 int virDomainDiskGetFormat(virDomainDiskDefPtr def);
 void virDomainDiskSetFormat(virDomainDiskDefPtr def, int format);
-int virDomainDeviceFindControllerModel(const virDomainDef *def,
-                                       virDomainDeviceInfoPtr info,
-                                       int controllerType);
+virDomainControllerDefPtr
+virDomainDeviceFindSCSIController(const virDomainDef *def,
+                                  virDomainDeviceInfoPtr info);
 virDomainDiskDefPtr virDomainDiskFindByBusAndDst(virDomainDefPtr def,
                                                  int bus,
                                                  char *dst);
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 7404759f7f..43deca9a52 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ virDomainDeviceAliasIsUserAlias;
 virDomainDeviceDefCopy;
 virDomainDeviceDefFree;
 virDomainDeviceDefParse;
-virDomainDeviceFindControllerModel;
+virDomainDeviceFindSCSIController;
 virDomainDeviceGetInfo;
 virDomainDeviceInfoIterate;
 virDomainDeviceTypeToString;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_alias.c b/src/qemu/qemu_alias.c
index 37fe2aa802..ed96f9f4cb 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_alias.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_alias.c
@@ -190,9 +190,11 @@ qemuAssignDeviceDiskAlias(virDomainDefPtr def,
 
     if (disk->info.type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_ADDRESS_TYPE_DRIVE) {
         if (disk->bus == VIR_DOMAIN_DISK_BUS_SCSI) {
-            controllerModel =
-                virDomainDeviceFindControllerModel(def, &disk->info,
-                                                   VIR_DOMAIN_CONTROLLER_TYPE_SCSI);
+            virDomainControllerDefPtr cont;
+
+            cont = virDomainDeviceFindSCSIController(def, &disk->info);
+            if (cont)
+                controllerModel = cont->model;
 
             if ((qemuDomainSetSCSIControllerModel(def, qemuCaps,
                                                   &controllerModel)) < 0)
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index c66307ee0d..113a2919bd 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -1957,6 +1957,7 @@ qemuBuildDriveDevStr(const virDomainDef *def,
                      virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps)
 {
     virBuffer opt = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
+    virDomainControllerDefPtr cont;
     const char *bus = virDomainDiskQEMUBusTypeToString(disk->bus);
     const char *contAlias;
     char *drivealias;
@@ -2042,9 +2043,9 @@ qemuBuildDriveDevStr(const virDomainDef *def,
             goto error;
         }
 
-        controllerModel =
-            virDomainDeviceFindControllerModel(def, &disk->info,
-                                               VIR_DOMAIN_CONTROLLER_TYPE_SCSI);
+        cont = virDomainDeviceFindSCSIController(def, &disk->info);
+        if (cont)
+            controllerModel = cont->model;
         if ((qemuDomainSetSCSIControllerModel(def, qemuCaps,
                                               &controllerModel)) < 0)
             goto error;
@@ -5142,12 +5143,14 @@ qemuBuildSCSIHostdevDevStr(const virDomainDef *def,
                            virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps)
 {
     virBuffer buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
+    virDomainControllerDefPtr cont;
     int model = -1;
     char *driveAlias;
     const char *contAlias;
 
-    model = virDomainDeviceFindControllerModel(def, dev->info,
-                                               VIR_DOMAIN_CONTROLLER_TYPE_SCSI);
+    cont = virDomainDeviceFindSCSIController(def, dev->info);
+    if (cont)
+        model = cont->model;
 
     if (qemuDomainSetSCSIControllerModel(def, qemuCaps, &model) < 0)
         goto error;
diff --git a/src/vbox/vbox_common.c b/src/vbox/vbox_common.c
index 33aefabe5b..6704772e6e 100644
--- a/src/vbox/vbox_common.c
+++ b/src/vbox/vbox_common.c
@@ -1047,10 +1047,11 @@ static int
 vboxAttachDrives(virDomainDefPtr def, vboxDriverPtr data, IMachine *machine)
 {
     size_t i;
-    int type, ret = 0, model = -1;
+    int type, ret = 0;
     const char *src = NULL;
     nsresult rc = 0;
     virDomainDiskDefPtr disk = NULL;
+    virDomainControllerDefPtr cont;
     PRUnichar *storageCtlName = NULL;
     char *controllerName = NULL;
     IMedium *medium = NULL;
@@ -1126,9 +1127,8 @@ vboxAttachDrives(virDomainDefPtr def, vboxDriverPtr data, IMachine *machine)
         case VIR_DOMAIN_DISK_BUS_SCSI:
             VBOX_UTF8_TO_UTF16(VBOX_CONTROLLER_SCSI_NAME, &storageCtlName);
 
-            model = virDomainDeviceFindControllerModel(def, &disk->info,
-                                                       VIR_DOMAIN_CONTROLLER_TYPE_SCSI);
-            if (model == VIR_DOMAIN_CONTROLLER_MODEL_SCSI_LSISAS1068) {
+            cont = virDomainDeviceFindSCSIController(def, &disk->info);
+            if (cont && cont->model == VIR_DOMAIN_CONTROLLER_MODEL_SCSI_LSISAS1068) {
                 VBOX_UTF16_FREE(storageCtlName);
                 VBOX_UTF8_TO_UTF16(VBOX_CONTROLLER_SAS_NAME, &storageCtlName);
             }