diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index f01282a037..0a425b82e5 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -15563,7 +15563,7 @@ qemuDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr domain,
     virCapsPtr caps = NULL;
     qemuDomainObjPrivatePtr priv;
     virDomainSnapshotState state;
-    VIR_AUTOFREE(virDomainSnapshotDefPtr) def = NULL;
+    VIR_AUTOUNREF(virDomainSnapshotDefPtr) def = NULL;
 
     virCheckFlags(VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_REDEFINE |
                   VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_CURRENT |