diff --git a/src/conf/virnodedeviceobj.c b/src/conf/virnodedeviceobj.c
index 8645f80e54..a8a802c95c 100644
--- a/src/conf/virnodedeviceobj.c
+++ b/src/conf/virnodedeviceobj.c
@@ -273,6 +273,17 @@ virNodeDeviceObjFree(virNodeDeviceObjPtr obj)
 }
 
 
+virNodeDeviceObjListPtr
+virNodeDeviceObjListNew(void)
+{
+    virNodeDeviceObjListPtr devs;
+
+    if (VIR_ALLOC(devs) < 0)
+        return NULL;
+    return devs;
+}
+
+
 void
 virNodeDeviceObjListFree(virNodeDeviceObjListPtr devs)
 {
@@ -280,7 +291,7 @@ virNodeDeviceObjListFree(virNodeDeviceObjListPtr devs)
     for (i = 0; i < devs->count; i++)
         virNodeDeviceObjFree(devs->objs[i]);
     VIR_FREE(devs->objs);
-    devs->count = 0;
+    VIR_FREE(devs);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/conf/virnodedeviceobj.h b/src/conf/virnodedeviceobj.h
index 9bc02ee1e1..77250a0cf2 100644
--- a/src/conf/virnodedeviceobj.h
+++ b/src/conf/virnodedeviceobj.h
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ typedef virNodeDeviceDriverState *virNodeDeviceDriverStatePtr;
 struct _virNodeDeviceDriverState {
     virMutex lock;
 
-    virNodeDeviceObjList devs;		/* currently-known devices */
+    virNodeDeviceObjListPtr devs;	/* currently-known devices */
     void *privateData;			/* driver-specific private data */
 
     /* Immutable pointer, self-locking APIs */
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ virNodeDeviceObjGetParentHost(virNodeDeviceObjListPtr devs,
 void
 virNodeDeviceObjFree(virNodeDeviceObjPtr dev);
 
+virNodeDeviceObjListPtr
+virNodeDeviceObjListNew(void);
+
 void
 virNodeDeviceObjListFree(virNodeDeviceObjListPtr devs);
 
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 55bdbc22b8..f205b084ee 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -972,6 +972,7 @@ virNodeDeviceObjGetNames;
 virNodeDeviceObjGetParentHost;
 virNodeDeviceObjListExport;
 virNodeDeviceObjListFree;
+virNodeDeviceObjListNew;
 virNodeDeviceObjLock;
 virNodeDeviceObjNumOfDevices;
 virNodeDeviceObjRemove;
diff --git a/src/node_device/node_device_driver.c b/src/node_device/node_device_driver.c
index 45eb3f23ca..1ad25570fe 100644
--- a/src/node_device/node_device_driver.c
+++ b/src/node_device/node_device_driver.c
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ nodeNumOfDevices(virConnectPtr conn,
     virCheckFlags(0, -1);
 
     nodeDeviceLock();
-    ndevs = virNodeDeviceObjNumOfDevices(&driver->devs, conn, cap,
+    ndevs = virNodeDeviceObjNumOfDevices(driver->devs, conn, cap,
                                          virNodeNumOfDevicesCheckACL);
     nodeDeviceUnlock();
 
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ nodeListDevices(virConnectPtr conn,
     virCheckFlags(0, -1);
 
     nodeDeviceLock();
-    nnames = virNodeDeviceObjGetNames(&driver->devs, conn,
+    nnames = virNodeDeviceObjGetNames(driver->devs, conn,
                                       virNodeListDevicesCheckACL,
                                       cap, names, maxnames);
     nodeDeviceUnlock();
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ nodeConnectListAllNodeDevices(virConnectPtr conn,
         return -1;
 
     nodeDeviceLock();
-    ret = virNodeDeviceObjListExport(conn, &driver->devs, devices,
+    ret = virNodeDeviceObjListExport(conn, driver->devs, devices,
                                      virConnectListAllNodeDevicesCheckACL,
                                      flags);
     nodeDeviceUnlock();
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ nodeDeviceObjFindByName(const char *name)
     virNodeDeviceObjPtr obj;
 
     nodeDeviceLock();
-    obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(&driver->devs, name);
+    obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(driver->devs, name);
     nodeDeviceUnlock();
 
     if (!obj) {
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ nodeDeviceLookupSCSIHostByWWN(virConnectPtr conn,
                               unsigned int flags)
 {
     size_t i;
-    virNodeDeviceObjListPtr devs = &driver->devs;
+    virNodeDeviceObjListPtr devs = driver->devs;
     virNodeDevCapsDefPtr cap = NULL;
     virNodeDeviceObjPtr obj = NULL;
     virNodeDeviceDefPtr def;
@@ -587,7 +587,7 @@ nodeDeviceCreateXML(virConnectPtr conn,
     if (virNodeDeviceGetWWNs(def, &wwnn, &wwpn) == -1)
         goto cleanup;
 
-    if ((parent_host = virNodeDeviceObjGetParentHost(&driver->devs, def,
+    if ((parent_host = virNodeDeviceObjGetParentHost(driver->devs, def,
                                                      CREATE_DEVICE)) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
@@ -639,7 +639,7 @@ nodeDeviceDestroy(virNodeDevicePtr device)
      * or parent_fabric_wwn) and drop the object lock. */
     virNodeDeviceObjUnlock(obj);
     obj = NULL;
-    if ((parent_host = virNodeDeviceObjGetParentHost(&driver->devs, def,
+    if ((parent_host = virNodeDeviceObjGetParentHost(driver->devs, def,
                                                      EXISTING_DEVICE)) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
diff --git a/src/node_device/node_device_hal.c b/src/node_device/node_device_hal.c
index 6441a3d48d..fcffaabd78 100644
--- a/src/node_device/node_device_hal.c
+++ b/src/node_device/node_device_hal.c
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ dev_create(const char *udi)
     /* Some devices don't have a path in sysfs, so ignore failure */
     (void)get_str_prop(ctx, udi, "linux.sysfs_path", &devicePath);
 
-    if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjAssignDef(&driver->devs, def))) {
+    if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjAssignDef(driver->devs, def))) {
         VIR_FREE(devicePath);
         goto failure;
     }
@@ -509,11 +509,11 @@ dev_refresh(const char *udi)
     virNodeDeviceObjPtr obj;
 
     nodeDeviceLock();
-    if ((obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(&driver->devs, name))) {
+    if ((obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(driver->devs, name))) {
         /* Simply "rediscover" device -- incrementally handling changes
          * to sub-capabilities (like net.80203) is nasty ... so avoid it.
          */
-        virNodeDeviceObjRemove(&driver->devs, obj);
+        virNodeDeviceObjRemove(driver->devs, obj);
     } else {
         VIR_DEBUG("no device named %s", name);
     }
@@ -542,10 +542,10 @@ device_removed(LibHalContext *ctx ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
     virNodeDeviceObjPtr obj;
 
     nodeDeviceLock();
-    obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(&driver->devs, name);
+    obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(driver->devs, name);
     VIR_DEBUG("%s", name);
     if (obj)
-        virNodeDeviceObjRemove(&driver->devs, obj);
+        virNodeDeviceObjRemove(driver->devs, obj);
     else
         VIR_DEBUG("no device named %s", name);
     nodeDeviceUnlock();
@@ -562,7 +562,7 @@ device_cap_added(LibHalContext *ctx,
     virNodeDeviceDefPtr def;
 
     nodeDeviceLock();
-    obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(&driver->devs, name);
+    obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(driver->devs, name);
     nodeDeviceUnlock();
     VIR_DEBUG("%s %s", cap, name);
     if (obj) {
@@ -627,6 +627,9 @@ nodeStateInitialize(bool privileged ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
     }
     nodeDeviceLock();
 
+    if (!(driver->devs = virNodeDeviceObjListNew()))
+        goto failure;
+
     dbus_error_init(&err);
     if (!(sysbus = virDBusGetSystemBus())) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
@@ -701,7 +704,7 @@ nodeStateInitialize(bool privileged ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
                        _("%s: %s"), err.name, err.message);
         dbus_error_free(&err);
     }
-    virNodeDeviceObjListFree(&driver->devs);
+    virNodeDeviceObjListFree(driver->devs);
     if (hal_ctx)
         (void)libhal_ctx_free(hal_ctx);
     nodeDeviceUnlock();
@@ -717,7 +720,7 @@ nodeStateCleanup(void)
     if (driver) {
         nodeDeviceLock();
         LibHalContext *hal_ctx = DRV_STATE_HAL_CTX(driver);
-        virNodeDeviceObjListFree(&driver->devs);
+        virNodeDeviceObjListFree(driver->devs);
         (void)libhal_ctx_shutdown(hal_ctx, NULL);
         (void)libhal_ctx_free(hal_ctx);
         nodeDeviceUnlock();
diff --git a/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c b/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c
index 267278410c..b113d933ab 100644
--- a/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c
+++ b/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c
@@ -1318,7 +1318,7 @@ udevRemoveOneDevice(struct udev_device *device)
     const char *name = NULL;
 
     name = udev_device_get_syspath(device);
-    if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindBySysfsPath(&driver->devs, name))) {
+    if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindBySysfsPath(driver->devs, name))) {
         VIR_DEBUG("Failed to find device to remove that has udev name '%s'",
                   name);
         return -1;
@@ -1331,7 +1331,7 @@ udevRemoveOneDevice(struct udev_device *device)
 
     VIR_DEBUG("Removing device '%s' with sysfs path '%s'",
               def->name, name);
-    virNodeDeviceObjRemove(&driver->devs, obj);
+    virNodeDeviceObjRemove(driver->devs, obj);
     virNodeDeviceObjFree(obj);
 
     if (event)
@@ -1365,7 +1365,7 @@ udevSetParent(struct udev_device *device,
             goto cleanup;
         }
 
-        if ((obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindBySysfsPath(&driver->devs,
+        if ((obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindBySysfsPath(driver->devs,
                                                    parent_sysfs_path))) {
             objdef = virNodeDeviceObjGetDef(obj);
             if (VIR_STRDUP(def->parent, objdef->name) < 0) {
@@ -1424,14 +1424,14 @@ udevAddOneDevice(struct udev_device *device)
     if (udevSetParent(device, def) != 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
-    if ((obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(&driver->devs, def->name))) {
+    if ((obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(driver->devs, def->name))) {
         virNodeDeviceObjUnlock(obj);
         new_device = false;
     }
 
     /* If this is a device change, the old definition will be freed
      * and the current definition will take its place. */
-    if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjAssignDef(&driver->devs, def)))
+    if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjAssignDef(driver->devs, def)))
         goto cleanup;
     objdef = virNodeDeviceObjGetDef(obj);
 
@@ -1585,7 +1585,7 @@ nodeStateCleanup(void)
     if (udev != NULL)
         udev_unref(udev);
 
-    virNodeDeviceObjListFree(&driver->devs);
+    virNodeDeviceObjListFree(driver->devs);
     nodeDeviceUnlock();
     virMutexDestroy(&driver->lock);
     VIR_FREE(driver);
@@ -1721,7 +1721,7 @@ udevSetupSystemDev(void)
     udevGetDMIData(&def->caps->data.system);
 #endif
 
-    if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjAssignDef(&driver->devs, def)))
+    if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjAssignDef(driver->devs, def)))
         goto cleanup;
 
     virNodeDeviceObjUnlock(obj);
@@ -1790,6 +1790,10 @@ nodeStateInitialize(bool privileged,
 
     driver->privateData = priv;
     nodeDeviceLock();
+
+    if (!(driver->devs = virNodeDeviceObjListNew()))
+        goto cleanup;
+
     driver->nodeDeviceEventState = virObjectEventStateNew();
 
     if (udevPCITranslateInit(privileged) < 0)
diff --git a/src/test/test_driver.c b/src/test/test_driver.c
index bd24e5ba9d..eb0cab61be 100644
--- a/src/test/test_driver.c
+++ b/src/test/test_driver.c
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ struct _testDriver {
     bool transaction_running;
     virInterfaceObjListPtr backupIfaces;
     virStoragePoolObjList pools;
-    virNodeDeviceObjList devs;
+    virNodeDeviceObjListPtr devs;
     int numCells;
     testCell cells[MAX_CELLS];
     size_t numAuths;
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ testDriverFree(testDriverPtr driver)
     virObjectUnref(driver->caps);
     virObjectUnref(driver->xmlopt);
     virObjectUnref(driver->domains);
-    virNodeDeviceObjListFree(&driver->devs);
+    virNodeDeviceObjListFree(driver->devs);
     virObjectUnref(driver->networks);
     virInterfaceObjListFree(driver->ifaces);
     virStoragePoolObjListFree(&driver->pools);
@@ -418,7 +418,8 @@ testDriverNew(void)
         !(ret->eventState = virObjectEventStateNew()) ||
         !(ret->ifaces = virInterfaceObjListNew()) ||
         !(ret->domains = virDomainObjListNew()) ||
-        !(ret->networks = virNetworkObjListNew()))
+        !(ret->networks = virNetworkObjListNew()) ||
+        !(ret->devs = virNodeDeviceObjListNew()))
         goto error;
 
     virAtomicIntSet(&ret->nextDomID, 1);
@@ -1171,7 +1172,7 @@ testParseNodedevs(testDriverPtr privconn,
         if (!def)
             goto error;
 
-        if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjAssignDef(&privconn->devs, def))) {
+        if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjAssignDef(privconn->devs, def))) {
             virNodeDeviceDefFree(def);
             goto error;
         }
@@ -4560,7 +4561,7 @@ testDestroyVport(testDriverPtr privconn,
      *
      * Reaching across the boundaries of space and time into the
      * Node Device in order to remove */
-    if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(&privconn->devs, "scsi_host12"))) {
+    if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(privconn->devs, "scsi_host12"))) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_NO_NODE_DEVICE, "%s",
                        _("no node device with matching name 'scsi_host12'"));
         return -1;
@@ -4570,7 +4571,7 @@ testDestroyVport(testDriverPtr privconn,
                                            VIR_NODE_DEVICE_EVENT_DELETED,
                                            0);
 
-    virNodeDeviceObjRemove(&privconn->devs, obj);
+    virNodeDeviceObjRemove(privconn->devs, obj);
     virNodeDeviceObjFree(obj);
 
     testObjectEventQueue(privconn, event);
@@ -5302,7 +5303,7 @@ testNodeDeviceObjFindByName(testDriverPtr driver,
     virNodeDeviceObjPtr obj;
 
     testDriverLock(driver);
-    obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(&driver->devs, name);
+    obj = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(driver->devs, name);
     testDriverUnlock(driver);
 
     if (!obj)
@@ -5325,7 +5326,7 @@ testNodeNumOfDevices(virConnectPtr conn,
     virCheckFlags(0, -1);
 
     testDriverLock(driver);
-    ndevs = virNodeDeviceObjNumOfDevices(&driver->devs, conn, cap, NULL);
+    ndevs = virNodeDeviceObjNumOfDevices(driver->devs, conn, cap, NULL);
     testDriverUnlock(driver);
 
     return ndevs;
@@ -5345,7 +5346,7 @@ testNodeListDevices(virConnectPtr conn,
     virCheckFlags(0, -1);
 
     testDriverLock(driver);
-    nnames = virNodeDeviceObjGetNames(&driver->devs, conn, NULL,
+    nnames = virNodeDeviceObjGetNames(driver->devs, conn, NULL,
                                      cap, names, maxnames);
     testDriverUnlock(driver);
 
@@ -5492,7 +5493,7 @@ testNodeDeviceMockCreateVport(testDriverPtr driver,
      * using the scsi_host11 definition, changing the name and the
      * scsi_host capability fields before calling virNodeDeviceAssignDef
      * to add the def to the node device objects list. */
-    if (!(objcopy = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(&driver->devs, "scsi_host11")))
+    if (!(objcopy = virNodeDeviceObjFindByName(driver->devs, "scsi_host11")))
         goto cleanup;
 
     xml = virNodeDeviceDefFormat(virNodeDeviceObjGetDef(objcopy));
@@ -5532,7 +5533,7 @@ testNodeDeviceMockCreateVport(testDriverPtr driver,
         caps = caps->next;
     }
 
-    if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjAssignDef(&driver->devs, def)))
+    if (!(obj = virNodeDeviceObjAssignDef(driver->devs, def)))
         goto cleanup;
     def = NULL;
     objdef = virNodeDeviceObjGetDef(obj);
@@ -5577,7 +5578,7 @@ testNodeDeviceCreateXML(virConnectPtr conn,
     /* Unlike the "real" code we don't need the parent_host in order to
      * call virVHBAManageVport, but still let's make sure the code finds
      * something valid and no one messed up the mock environment. */
-    if (virNodeDeviceObjGetParentHost(&driver->devs, def, CREATE_DEVICE) < 0)
+    if (virNodeDeviceObjGetParentHost(driver->devs, def, CREATE_DEVICE) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
     /* In the real code, we'd call virVHBAManageVport followed by
@@ -5638,7 +5639,7 @@ testNodeDeviceDestroy(virNodeDevicePtr dev)
 
     /* We do this just for basic validation, but also avoid finding a
      * vport capable HBA if for some reason our vHBA doesn't exist */
-    if (virNodeDeviceObjGetParentHost(&driver->devs, def,
+    if (virNodeDeviceObjGetParentHost(driver->devs, def,
                                       EXISTING_DEVICE) < 0) {
         obj = NULL;
         goto cleanup;
@@ -5649,7 +5650,7 @@ testNodeDeviceDestroy(virNodeDevicePtr dev)
                                            0);
 
     virNodeDeviceObjLock(obj);
-    virNodeDeviceObjRemove(&driver->devs, obj);
+    virNodeDeviceObjRemove(driver->devs, obj);
     virNodeDeviceObjFree(obj);
     obj = NULL;