diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index bbb1784a91..28cc92a7fe 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -1004,9 +1004,8 @@ virQEMUCapsInitGuest(virCaps *caps,
         }
     }
 
-    ret = virQEMUCapsInitGuestFromBinary(caps,
-                                         binary, qemuCaps,
-                                         guestarch);
+    virQEMUCapsInitGuestFromBinary(caps, binary, qemuCaps, guestarch);
+    ret = 0;
 
     VIR_FREE(binary);
     virObjectUnref(qemuCaps);
@@ -1096,7 +1095,7 @@ virQEMUCapsGetMachineTypesCaps(virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps,
 }
 
 
-int
+void
 virQEMUCapsInitGuestFromBinary(virCaps *caps,
                                const char *binary,
                                virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps,
@@ -1107,7 +1106,7 @@ virQEMUCapsInitGuestFromBinary(virCaps *caps,
     size_t nmachines = 0;
 
     if (!binary)
-        return 0;
+        return;
 
     virQEMUCapsGetMachineTypesCaps(qemuCaps, &nmachines, &machines);
 
@@ -1150,8 +1149,6 @@ virQEMUCapsInitGuestFromBinary(virCaps *caps,
         virCapabilitiesAddGuestFeature(guest, VIR_CAPS_GUEST_FEATURE_TYPE_PAE);
         virCapabilitiesAddGuestFeature(guest, VIR_CAPS_GUEST_FEATURE_TYPE_NONPAE);
     }
-
-    return 0;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
index 4881f41253..ca31e26f0d 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
@@ -819,10 +819,10 @@ bool virQEMUCapsSupportsGICVersion(virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps,
 const char *virQEMUCapsGetPreferredMachine(virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps,
                                            virDomainVirtType virtType);
 
-int virQEMUCapsInitGuestFromBinary(virCaps *caps,
-                                   const char *binary,
-                                   virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps,
-                                   virArch guestarch);
+void virQEMUCapsInitGuestFromBinary(virCaps *caps,
+                                    const char *binary,
+                                    virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps,
+                                    virArch guestarch);
 
 int virQEMUCapsFillDomainCaps(virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps,
                               virArch hostarch,
diff --git a/tests/qemucaps2xmltest.c b/tests/qemucaps2xmltest.c
index 2c5cb1b68b..192fb48450 100644
--- a/tests/qemucaps2xmltest.c
+++ b/tests/qemucaps2xmltest.c
@@ -102,13 +102,7 @@ testGetCaps(char *capsData, const testQemuData *data)
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    if (virQEMUCapsInitGuestFromBinary(caps,
-                                       binary,
-                                       qemuCaps,
-                                       arch) < 0) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "failed to create the capabilities from qemu");
-        return NULL;
-    }
+    virQEMUCapsInitGuestFromBinary(caps, binary, qemuCaps, arch);
 
     return g_steal_pointer(&caps);
 }