diff --git a/tests/domaincapstest.c b/tests/domaincapstest.c
index d2ed820cf9..f817ed5452 100644
--- a/tests/domaincapstest.c
+++ b/tests/domaincapstest.c
@@ -150,8 +150,9 @@ fillXenCaps(virDomainCapsPtr domCaps)
     if (VIR_ALLOC_N(firmwares, 2) < 0)
         return ret;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(firmwares[0]) < 0 || VIR_ALLOC(firmwares[1]) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+    firmwares[0] = g_new0(virFirmware, 1);
+    firmwares[1] = g_new0(virFirmware, 1);
+
     firmwares[0]->name = g_strdup("/usr/lib/xen/boot/hvmloader");
     firmwares[1]->name = g_strdup("/usr/lib/xen/boot/ovmf.bin");
 
@@ -175,8 +176,7 @@ fillBhyveCaps(virDomainCapsPtr domCaps, unsigned int *bhyve_caps)
     virDomainCapsStringValuesPtr firmwares = NULL;
     int ret = -1;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(firmwares) < 0)
-        return -1;
+    firmwares = g_new0(virDomainCapsStringValues, 1);
 
     if (fillStringValues(firmwares, "/foo/bar", "/foo/baz", NULL) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
diff --git a/tests/nodedevmdevctltest.c b/tests/nodedevmdevctltest.c
index 57c1ad4f46..dab4b487b9 100644
--- a/tests/nodedevmdevctltest.c
+++ b/tests/nodedevmdevctltest.c
@@ -162,11 +162,8 @@ fakeRootDevice(void)
 {
     virNodeDeviceDefPtr def = NULL;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(def) != 0 || VIR_ALLOC(def->caps) != 0) {
-        virNodeDeviceDefFree(def);
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
+    def = g_new0(virNodeDeviceDef, 1);
+    def->caps = g_new0(virNodeDevCapsDef, 1);
     def->name = g_strdup("computer");
 
     return def;
@@ -182,10 +179,8 @@ fakeParentDevice(void)
     virNodeDeviceDefPtr def = NULL;
     virNodeDevCapPCIDevPtr pci_dev;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(def) != 0 || VIR_ALLOC(def->caps) != 0) {
-        virNodeDeviceDefFree(def);
-        return NULL;
-    }
+    def = g_new0(virNodeDeviceDef, 1);
+    def->caps = g_new0(virNodeDevCapsDef, 1);
 
     def->name = g_strdup("pci_0000_00_02_0");
     def->parent = g_strdup("computer");
@@ -233,8 +228,7 @@ static int
 nodedevTestDriverInit(void)
 {
     int ret = -1;
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(driver) < 0)
-        return -1;
+    driver = g_new0(virNodeDeviceDriverState, 1);
 
     driver->lockFD = -1;
     if (virMutexInit(&driver->lock) < 0 ||
diff --git a/tests/nwfilterxml2firewalltest.c b/tests/nwfilterxml2firewalltest.c
index dff2b62028..755732487a 100644
--- a/tests/nwfilterxml2firewalltest.c
+++ b/tests/nwfilterxml2firewalltest.c
@@ -209,8 +209,7 @@ virNWFilterRuleDefToRuleInst(virNWFilterDefPtr def,
     virNWFilterRuleInstPtr ruleinst;
     int ret = -1;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(ruleinst) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+    ruleinst = g_new0(virNWFilterRuleInst, 1);
 
     ruleinst->chainSuffix = def->chainsuffix;
     ruleinst->chainPriority = def->chainPriority;
diff --git a/tests/qemublocktest.c b/tests/qemublocktest.c
index 0685b703a1..2489b883ff 100644
--- a/tests/qemublocktest.c
+++ b/tests/qemublocktest.c
@@ -234,8 +234,7 @@ testQemuDiskXMLToJSONFakeSecrets(virStorageSourcePtr src)
     srcpriv = QEMU_DOMAIN_STORAGE_SOURCE_PRIVATE(src);
 
     if (src->auth) {
-        if (VIR_ALLOC(srcpriv->secinfo) < 0)
-            return -1;
+        srcpriv->secinfo = g_new0(qemuDomainSecretInfo, 1);
 
         srcpriv->secinfo->type = VIR_DOMAIN_SECRET_INFO_TYPE_AES;
         srcpriv->secinfo->s.aes.username = g_strdup(src->auth->username);
@@ -245,8 +244,7 @@ testQemuDiskXMLToJSONFakeSecrets(virStorageSourcePtr src)
     }
 
     if (src->encryption) {
-        if (VIR_ALLOC(srcpriv->encinfo) < 0)
-            return -1;
+        srcpriv->encinfo = g_new0(qemuDomainSecretInfo, 1);
 
         srcpriv->encinfo->type = VIR_DOMAIN_SECRET_INFO_TYPE_AES;
         srcpriv->encinfo->s.aes.alias = g_strdup_printf("%s-encalias",
@@ -493,8 +491,7 @@ testQemuImageCreateLoadDiskXML(const char *name,
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(diskdef) < 0)
-        return NULL;
+    diskdef = g_new0(virDomainSnapshotDiskDef, 1);
 
     if (virDomainSnapshotDiskDefParseXML(node, ctxt, diskdef,
                                          VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_PARSE_STATUS,
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtest.c b/tests/qemuhotplugtest.c
index b023c49a69..2d12cacf28 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtest.c
@@ -413,8 +413,7 @@ testQemuHotplugCpuPrepare(const char *test,
 
     prefix = g_strdup_printf("%s/qemuhotplugtestcpus/%s", abs_srcdir, test);
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(data) < 0)
-        goto error;
+    data = g_new0(struct testQemuHotplugCpuData, 1);
 
     data->modern = modern;
 
diff --git a/tests/qemumonitorjsontest.c b/tests/qemumonitorjsontest.c
index bc25958e70..a0dcbba07b 100644
--- a/tests/qemumonitorjsontest.c
+++ b/tests/qemumonitorjsontest.c
@@ -1653,8 +1653,7 @@ testQemuMonitorJSONqemuMonitorJSONGetBlockInfo(const void *opaque)
         !(expectedBlockDevices = virHashCreate(32, virHashValueFree)))
         goto cleanup;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(info) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+    info = g_new0(struct qemuDomainDiskInfo, 1);
 
     if (virHashAddEntry(expectedBlockDevices, "virtio-disk0", info) < 0) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
@@ -1662,8 +1661,7 @@ testQemuMonitorJSONqemuMonitorJSONGetBlockInfo(const void *opaque)
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(info) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+    info = g_new0(struct qemuDomainDiskInfo, 1);
 
     if (virHashAddEntry(expectedBlockDevices, "virtio-disk1", info) < 0) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
@@ -1671,8 +1669,7 @@ testQemuMonitorJSONqemuMonitorJSONGetBlockInfo(const void *opaque)
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(info) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+    info = g_new0(struct qemuDomainDiskInfo, 1);
 
     info->removable = true;
     info->tray = true;
@@ -1683,8 +1680,7 @@ testQemuMonitorJSONqemuMonitorJSONGetBlockInfo(const void *opaque)
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(info) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+    info = g_new0(struct qemuDomainDiskInfo, 1);
 
     info->removable = true;
     info->tray = true;
diff --git a/tests/qemumonitortestutils.c b/tests/qemumonitortestutils.c
index d74df15966..2fc26577a7 100644
--- a/tests/qemumonitortestutils.c
+++ b/tests/qemumonitortestutils.c
@@ -461,8 +461,7 @@ qemuMonitorTestAddHandler(qemuMonitorTestPtr test,
 {
     qemuMonitorTestItemPtr item;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(item) < 0)
-        goto error;
+    item = g_new0(qemuMonitorTestItem, 1);
 
     item->identifier = g_strdup(identifier);
     item->cb = cb;
@@ -619,8 +618,7 @@ qemuMonitorTestAddItem(qemuMonitorTestPtr test,
 {
     struct qemuMonitorTestHandlerData *data;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(data) < 0)
-        return -1;
+    data = g_new0(struct qemuMonitorTestHandlerData, 1);
 
     data->command_name = g_strdup(command_name);
     data->response = g_strdup(response);
@@ -694,8 +692,7 @@ qemuMonitorTestAddItemVerbatim(qemuMonitorTestPtr test,
 {
     struct qemuMonitorTestHandlerData *data;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(data) < 0)
-        return -1;
+    data = g_new0(struct qemuMonitorTestHandlerData, 1);
 
     data->response = g_strdup(response);
     data->cmderr = g_strdup(cmderr);
@@ -856,8 +853,7 @@ qemuMonitorTestAddItemParams(qemuMonitorTestPtr test,
 
     va_start(args, response);
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(data) < 0)
-        goto error;
+    data = g_new0(struct qemuMonitorTestHandlerData, 1);
 
     data->command_name = g_strdup(cmdname);
     data->response = g_strdup(response);
@@ -962,8 +958,7 @@ qemuMonitorTestAddItemExpect(qemuMonitorTestPtr test,
 {
     struct qemuMonitorTestHandlerData *data;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(data) < 0)
-        goto error;
+    data = g_new0(struct qemuMonitorTestHandlerData, 1);
 
     data->command_name = g_strdup(cmdname);
     data->response = g_strdup(response);
@@ -984,10 +979,6 @@ qemuMonitorTestAddItemExpect(qemuMonitorTestPtr test,
                                      cmdname,
                                      qemuMonitorTestProcessCommandWithArgStr,
                                      data, qemuMonitorTestHandlerDataFree);
-
- error:
-    qemuMonitorTestHandlerDataFree(data);
-    return -1;
 }
 
 
@@ -1036,8 +1027,7 @@ qemuMonitorCommonTestNew(virDomainXMLOptionPtr xmlopt,
     char *path = NULL;
     char *tmpdir_template = NULL;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(test) < 0)
-        goto error;
+    test = g_new0(qemuMonitorTest, 1);
 
     if (virMutexInit(&test->lock) < 0) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
diff --git a/tests/qemusecuritymock.c b/tests/qemusecuritymock.c
index d544ae56cd..6366432dd4 100644
--- a/tests/qemusecuritymock.c
+++ b/tests/qemusecuritymock.c
@@ -270,8 +270,7 @@ mock_chown(const char *path,
         abort();
     }
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(val) < 0)
-        return -1;
+    val = g_new0(uint32_t, 1);
 
     *val = (gid << 16) + uid;
 
diff --git a/tests/securityselinuxhelper.c b/tests/securityselinuxhelper.c
index 14355d2166..b308ef5095 100644
--- a/tests/securityselinuxhelper.c
+++ b/tests/securityselinuxhelper.c
@@ -292,8 +292,7 @@ selabel_open(unsigned int backend,
         return real_selabel_open(backend, opts, nopts);
 
     /* struct selabel_handle is opaque; fake it */
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(fake_handle) < 0)
-        return NULL;
+    fake_handle = g_new0(char, 1);
     return (struct selabel_handle *)fake_handle;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/securityselinuxtest.c b/tests/securityselinuxtest.c
index ae4b08b9d8..297cc0e53d 100644
--- a/tests/securityselinuxtest.c
+++ b/tests/securityselinuxtest.c
@@ -74,8 +74,7 @@ testBuildDomainDef(bool dynamic,
     if (VIR_ALLOC_N(def->seclabels, 1) < 0)
         goto error;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(secdef) < 0)
-        goto error;
+    secdef = g_new0(virSecurityLabelDef, 1);
 
     secdef->model = g_strdup("selinux");
 
diff --git a/tests/virhostdevtest.c b/tests/virhostdevtest.c
index b0bad683a8..385db0849a 100644
--- a/tests/virhostdevtest.c
+++ b/tests/virhostdevtest.c
@@ -149,8 +149,7 @@ myInit(void)
             goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(mgr) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+    mgr = g_new0(virHostdevManager, 1);
     if ((mgr->activePCIHostdevs = virPCIDeviceListNew()) == NULL)
         goto cleanup;
     if ((mgr->activeUSBHostdevs = virUSBDeviceListNew()) == NULL)
diff --git a/tests/virnetdaemontest.c b/tests/virnetdaemontest.c
index 09d268627c..a20f351f93 100644
--- a/tests/virnetdaemontest.c
+++ b/tests/virnetdaemontest.c
@@ -38,8 +38,7 @@ testClientNew(virNetServerClientPtr client G_GNUC_UNUSED,
 {
     struct testClientPriv *priv;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(priv) < 0)
-        return NULL;
+    priv = g_new0(struct testClientPriv, 1);
 
     priv->magic = 1729;
 
diff --git a/tests/virnetmessagetest.c b/tests/virnetmessagetest.c
index a207f2d85f..76cc3d182f 100644
--- a/tests/virnetmessagetest.c
+++ b/tests/virnetmessagetest.c
@@ -227,11 +227,10 @@ static int testMessagePayloadEncode(const void *args G_GNUC_UNUSED)
     err.domain = VIR_FROM_RPC;
     err.level = VIR_ERR_ERROR;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(err.message) < 0 ||
-        VIR_ALLOC(err.str1) < 0 ||
-        VIR_ALLOC(err.str2) < 0 ||
-        VIR_ALLOC(err.str3) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+    err.message = g_new0(char *, 1);
+    err.str1 = g_new0(char *, 1);
+    err.str2 = g_new0(char *, 1);
+    err.str3 = g_new0(char *, 1);
 
     *err.message = g_strdup("Hello World");
     *err.str1 = g_strdup("One");
diff --git a/tests/virnetserverclienttest.c b/tests/virnetserverclienttest.c
index 668fd02a1e..a4341c1641 100644
--- a/tests/virnetserverclienttest.c
+++ b/tests/virnetserverclienttest.c
@@ -32,8 +32,7 @@ testClientNew(virNetServerClientPtr client G_GNUC_UNUSED,
 {
     char *dummy;
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(dummy) < 0)
-        return NULL;
+    dummy = g_new0(char, 1);
 
     return dummy;
 }
diff --git a/tests/virstringtest.c b/tests/virstringtest.c
index 704686ac10..b2ef57c338 100644
--- a/tests/virstringtest.c
+++ b/tests/virstringtest.c
@@ -176,9 +176,8 @@ static int testAdd(const void *args)
             goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    if (!list &&
-        VIR_ALLOC(list) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+    if (!list)
+        list = g_new0(char *, 1);
 
     if (!(got = virStringListJoin((const char **)list, data->delim))) {
         VIR_DEBUG("Got no result");