diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index b316b4bef9..714ad56e66 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -7325,8 +7325,9 @@ virDomainActualNetDefParseXML(xmlNodePtr node,
 
     bandwidth_node = virXPathNode("./bandwidth", ctxt);
     if (bandwidth_node &&
-        !(actual->bandwidth = virNetDevBandwidthParse(bandwidth_node,
-                                                      actual->type)))
+        virNetDevBandwidthParse(&actual->bandwidth,
+                                bandwidth_node,
+                                actual->type) < 0)
         goto error;
 
     vlanNode = virXPathNode("./vlan", ctxt);
@@ -7583,8 +7584,9 @@ virDomainNetDefParseXML(virDomainXMLOptionPtr xmlopt,
                     goto error;
                 }
             } else if (xmlStrEqual(cur->name, BAD_CAST "bandwidth")) {
-                if (!(def->bandwidth = virNetDevBandwidthParse(cur,
-                                                               def->type)))
+                if (virNetDevBandwidthParse(&def->bandwidth,
+                                            cur,
+                                            def->type) < 0)
                     goto error;
             } else if (xmlStrEqual(cur->name, BAD_CAST "vlan")) {
                 if (virNetDevVlanParse(cur, ctxt, &def->vlan) < 0)
diff --git a/src/conf/netdev_bandwidth_conf.c b/src/conf/netdev_bandwidth_conf.c
index 63a39e324c..c3e0f9f14a 100644
--- a/src/conf/netdev_bandwidth_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/netdev_bandwidth_conf.c
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ virNetDevBandwidthParseRate(xmlNodePtr node, virNetDevBandwidthRatePtr rate)
 
 /**
  * virNetDevBandwidthParse:
+ * @bandwidth: parsed bandwidth
  * @node: XML node
  * @net_type: one of virDomainNetType
  *
@@ -111,21 +112,23 @@ virNetDevBandwidthParseRate(xmlNodePtr node, virNetDevBandwidthRatePtr rate)
  *
  * Returns !NULL on success, NULL on error.
  */
-virNetDevBandwidthPtr
-virNetDevBandwidthParse(xmlNodePtr node,
+int
+virNetDevBandwidthParse(virNetDevBandwidthPtr *bandwidth,
+                        xmlNodePtr node,
                         int net_type)
 {
+    int ret = -1;
     virNetDevBandwidthPtr def = NULL;
     xmlNodePtr cur;
     xmlNodePtr in = NULL, out = NULL;
 
     if (VIR_ALLOC(def) < 0)
-        return NULL;
+        return ret;
 
     if (!node || !xmlStrEqual(node->name, BAD_CAST "bandwidth")) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG, "%s",
                        _("invalid argument supplied"));
-        goto error;
+        goto cleanup;
     }
 
     cur = node->children;
@@ -137,7 +140,7 @@ virNetDevBandwidthParse(xmlNodePtr node,
                     virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_DETAIL, "%s",
                                    _("Only one child <inbound> "
                                      "element allowed"));
-                    goto error;
+                    goto cleanup;
                 }
                 in = cur;
             } else if (xmlStrEqual(cur->name, BAD_CAST "outbound")) {
@@ -145,7 +148,7 @@ virNetDevBandwidthParse(xmlNodePtr node,
                     virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_DETAIL, "%s",
                                    _("Only one child <outbound> "
                                      "element allowed"));
-                    goto error;
+                    goto cleanup;
                 }
                 out = cur;
             }
@@ -156,11 +159,11 @@ virNetDevBandwidthParse(xmlNodePtr node,
 
     if (in) {
         if (VIR_ALLOC(def->in) < 0)
-            goto error;
+            goto cleanup;
 
         if (virNetDevBandwidthParseRate(in, def->in) < 0) {
             /* helper reported error for us */
-            goto error;
+            goto cleanup;
         }
 
         if (def->in->floor && net_type != VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_NETWORK) {
@@ -174,32 +177,37 @@ virNetDevBandwidthParse(xmlNodePtr node,
                                _("floor attribute is supported only for "
                                  "interfaces of type network"));
             }
-            goto error;
+            goto cleanup;
         }
     }
 
     if (out) {
         if (VIR_ALLOC(def->out) < 0)
-            goto error;
+            goto cleanup;
 
         if (virNetDevBandwidthParseRate(out, def->out) < 0) {
             /* helper reported error for us */
-            goto error;
+            goto cleanup;
         }
 
         if (def->out->floor) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
                            _("'floor' attribute allowed "
                              "only in <inbound> element"));
-            goto error;
+            goto cleanup;
         }
     }
 
-    return def;
+    if (!def->in && !def->out)
+        VIR_FREE(def);
 
- error:
+    *bandwidth = def;
+    def = NULL;
+    ret = 0;
+
+ cleanup:
     virNetDevBandwidthFree(def);
-    return NULL;
+    return ret;
 }
 
 static int
diff --git a/src/conf/netdev_bandwidth_conf.h b/src/conf/netdev_bandwidth_conf.h
index 60dacc658b..6cbf4aecb3 100644
--- a/src/conf/netdev_bandwidth_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/netdev_bandwidth_conf.h
@@ -29,9 +29,10 @@
 # include "virxml.h"
 # include "domain_conf.h"
 
-virNetDevBandwidthPtr virNetDevBandwidthParse(xmlNodePtr node,
-                                              int net_type)
-    ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_RETURN_CHECK;
+int virNetDevBandwidthParse(virNetDevBandwidthPtr *bandwidth,
+                            xmlNodePtr node,
+                            int net_type)
+    ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(2) ATTRIBUTE_RETURN_CHECK;
 int virNetDevBandwidthFormat(virNetDevBandwidthPtr def,
                              virBufferPtr buf)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(2);
diff --git a/src/conf/network_conf.c b/src/conf/network_conf.c
index ddb5c077b5..26fe18deef 100644
--- a/src/conf/network_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/network_conf.c
@@ -1649,9 +1649,8 @@ virNetworkPortGroupParseXML(virPortGroupDefPtr def,
 
     bandwidth_node = virXPathNode("./bandwidth", ctxt);
     if (bandwidth_node &&
-        !(def->bandwidth = virNetDevBandwidthParse(bandwidth_node, -1))) {
+        virNetDevBandwidthParse(&def->bandwidth, bandwidth_node, -1) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
-    }
 
     vlanNode = virXPathNode("./vlan", ctxt);
     if (vlanNode && virNetDevVlanParse(vlanNode, ctxt, &def->vlan) < 0)
@@ -2088,8 +2087,8 @@ virNetworkDefParseXML(xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt)
     /* Parse network domain information */
     def->domain = virXPathString("string(./domain[1]/@name)", ctxt);
 
-    if ((bandwidthNode = virXPathNode("./bandwidth", ctxt)) != NULL &&
-        (def->bandwidth = virNetDevBandwidthParse(bandwidthNode, -1)) == NULL)
+    if ((bandwidthNode = virXPathNode("./bandwidth", ctxt)) &&
+        virNetDevBandwidthParse(&def->bandwidth, bandwidthNode, -1) < 0)
         goto error;
 
     vlanNode = virXPathNode("./vlan", ctxt);
diff --git a/tests/virnetdevbandwidthtest.c b/tests/virnetdevbandwidthtest.c
index cd24442ab2..3b4645533f 100644
--- a/tests/virnetdevbandwidthtest.c
+++ b/tests/virnetdevbandwidthtest.c
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ struct testSetStruct {
 
 #define PARSE(xml, var)                                                 \
     do {                                                                \
+        int rc;                                                         \
         xmlDocPtr doc;                                                  \
         xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt = NULL;                                 \
                                                                         \
@@ -54,11 +55,12 @@ struct testSetStruct {
                                           &ctxt)))                      \
             goto cleanup;                                               \
                                                                         \
-        (var) = virNetDevBandwidthParse(ctxt->node,                     \
-                                        VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_NETWORK);   \
+        rc = virNetDevBandwidthParse(&(var),                            \
+                                     ctxt->node,                        \
+                                     VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_NETWORK);      \
         xmlFreeDoc(doc);                                                \
         xmlXPathFreeContext(ctxt);                                      \
-        if (!(var))                                                     \
+        if (rc < 0)                                                     \
             goto cleanup;                                               \
     } while (0)
 
@@ -127,9 +129,7 @@ mymain(void)
 
     DO_TEST_SET(NULL, NULL);
 
-    DO_TEST_SET(("<bandwidth/>"),
-                (TC " qdisc del dev eth0 root\n"
-                 TC " qdisc del dev eth0 ingress\n"));
+    DO_TEST_SET("<bandwidth/>", NULL);
 
     DO_TEST_SET(("<bandwidth>"
                  "  <inbound average='1024'/>"