diff --git a/src/conf/domain_audit.c b/src/conf/domain_audit.c
index 4294b50c3a..7a6bb02203 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_audit.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_audit.c
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ virDomainAuditRNG(virDomainObj *vm,
     const char *oldsrcpath = NULL;
 
     if (newDef) {
-        switch ((virDomainRNGBackend) newDef->backend) {
+        switch (newDef->backend) {
         case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_RANDOM:
             newsrcpath = newDef->source.file;
             break;
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ virDomainAuditRNG(virDomainObj *vm,
     }
 
     if (oldDef) {
-        switch ((virDomainRNGBackend) oldDef->backend) {
+        switch (oldDef->backend) {
         case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_RANDOM:
             oldsrcpath = oldDef->source.file;
             break;
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 3b24d0218d..47c4170f29 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -12116,7 +12116,6 @@ virDomainRNGDefParseXML(virDomainXMLOption *xmlopt,
     VIR_XPATH_NODE_AUTORESTORE(ctxt)
     int nbackends;
     g_autofree xmlNodePtr *backends = NULL;
-    g_autofree char *backend = NULL;
     g_autofree char *type = NULL;
 
     def = g_new0(virDomainRNGDef, 1);
@@ -12151,19 +12150,14 @@ virDomainRNGDefParseXML(virDomainXMLOption *xmlopt,
         goto error;
     }
 
-    if (!(backend = virXMLPropString(backends[0], "model"))) {
-        virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR, "%s",
-                       _("missing RNG device backend model"));
+    if (virXMLPropEnum(backends[0], "model",
+                       virDomainRNGBackendTypeFromString,
+                       VIR_XML_PROP_REQUIRED,
+                       &def->backend) < 0) {
         goto error;
     }
 
-    if ((def->backend = virDomainRNGBackendTypeFromString(backend)) < 0) {
-        virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
-                       _("unknown RNG backend model '%1$s'"), backend);
-        goto error;
-    }
-
-    switch ((virDomainRNGBackend) def->backend) {
+    switch (def->backend) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_RANDOM:
         def->source.file = virXPathString("string(./backend)", ctxt);
         break;
@@ -15197,7 +15191,7 @@ virDomainRNGFind(virDomainDef *def,
         if (rng->rate != tmp->rate || rng->period != tmp->period)
             continue;
 
-        switch ((virDomainRNGBackend) rng->backend) {
+        switch (rng->backend) {
         case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_RANDOM:
             if (STRNEQ_NULLABLE(rng->source.file, tmp->source.file))
                 continue;
@@ -25076,7 +25070,7 @@ virDomainRNGDefFormat(virBuffer *buf,
     }
     virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<backend model='%s'", backend);
 
-    switch ((virDomainRNGBackend) def->backend) {
+    switch (def->backend) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_RANDOM:
         virBufferEscapeString(buf, ">%s</backend>\n", def->source.file);
         break;
@@ -25117,7 +25111,7 @@ virDomainRNGDefFree(virDomainRNGDef *def)
     if (!def)
         return;
 
-    switch ((virDomainRNGBackend) def->backend) {
+    switch (def->backend) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_RANDOM:
         g_free(def->source.file);
         break;
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index f56c04ce36..c9b9fbabd3 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -2610,7 +2610,7 @@ typedef enum {
 
 struct _virDomainRNGDef {
     virDomainRNGModel model;
-    int backend;
+    virDomainRNGBackend backend;
     unsigned int rate; /* bytes per period */
     unsigned int period; /* milliseconds */
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 17d7bfcfd3..11ede25c0b 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -5361,7 +5361,7 @@ qemuBuildRNGBackendChrdev(virCommand *cmd,
 {
     g_autofree char *charAlias = qemuAliasChardevFromDevAlias(rng->info.alias);
 
-    switch ((virDomainRNGBackend) rng->backend) {
+    switch (rng->backend) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_RANDOM:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_BUILTIN:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_LAST:
@@ -5390,7 +5390,7 @@ qemuBuildRNGBackendProps(virDomainRNGDef *rng,
 
     objAlias = g_strdup_printf("obj%s", rng->info.alias);
 
-    switch ((virDomainRNGBackend) rng->backend) {
+    switch (rng->backend) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_RANDOM:
         if (qemuMonitorCreateObjectProps(props, "rng-random", objAlias,
                                          "s:filename", rng->source.file,
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_namespace.c b/src/qemu/qemu_namespace.c
index f245712f9a..915d44310f 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_namespace.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_namespace.c
@@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ static int
 qemuDomainSetupRNG(virDomainRNGDef *rng,
                    GSList **paths)
 {
-    switch ((virDomainRNGBackend) rng->backend) {
+    switch (rng->backend) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_RANDOM:
         *paths = g_slist_prepend(*paths, g_strdup(rng->source.file));
         break;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c b/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
index 2fcc86bb22..fc61c489e9 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
@@ -2154,7 +2154,7 @@ qemuValidateDomainRNGDef(const virDomainRNGDef *def,
 {
     virDomainCapsDeviceRNG rngCaps = { 0 };
 
-    switch ((virDomainRNGBackend) def->backend) {
+    switch (def->backend) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_RANDOM:
         if (!virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_OBJECT_RNG_RANDOM)) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",