diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 6d0e2dc868..e548d1dbcc 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -2876,7 +2876,7 @@ static int
 virDomainHostdevSubsysPciDefParseXML(virConnectPtr conn,
                                      const xmlNodePtr node,
                                      virDomainHostdevDefPtr def,
-                                     int flags ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED) {
+                                     int flags) {
 
     int ret = -1;
     xmlNodePtr cur;
@@ -2890,7 +2890,8 @@ virDomainHostdevSubsysPciDefParseXML(virConnectPtr conn,
 
                 if (virDomainDevicePCIAddressParseXML(conn, cur, addr) < 0)
                     goto out;
-            } else if (xmlStrEqual(cur->name, BAD_CAST "state")) {
+            } else if ((flags & VIR_DOMAIN_XML_INTERNAL_STATUS) &&
+                       xmlStrEqual(cur->name, BAD_CAST "state")) {
                 /* Legacy back-compat. Don't add any more attributes here */
                 char *devaddr = virXMLPropString(cur, "devaddr");
                 if (devaddr &&