diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index e84fbe1e21..57a5b7befe 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -15714,10 +15714,13 @@ virSysinfoParseXML(xmlNodePtr node,
                   unsigned char *domUUID,
                   bool uuid_generated)
 {
+    VIR_XPATH_NODE_AUTORESTORE(ctxt);
     virSysinfoDefPtr def;
     xmlNodePtr tmpnode;
     g_autofree char *type = NULL;
 
+    ctxt->node = node;
+
     if (!virXMLNodeNameEqual(node, "sysinfo")) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR, "%s",
                        _("XML does not contain expected 'sysinfo' element"));
@@ -22179,8 +22182,6 @@ virDomainDefParseXML(xmlDocPtr xml,
     }
 
     if ((node = virXPathNode("./sysinfo[1]", ctxt)) != NULL) {
-        VIR_XPATH_NODE_AUTORESTORE(ctxt);
-        ctxt->node = node;
         def->sysinfo = virSysinfoParseXML(node, ctxt,
                                           def->uuid, uuid_generated);