diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index 410086b2c6..ce899f210d 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -3349,10 +3349,13 @@ virQEMUCapsPtr virQEMUCapsNewForBinary(const char *binary,
                                        uid_t runUid,
                                        gid_t runGid)
 {
-    virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps = virQEMUCapsNew();
+    virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps;
     struct stat sb;
     int rv;
 
+    if (!(qemuCaps = virQEMUCapsNew()))
+        goto error;
+
     if (VIR_STRDUP(qemuCaps->binary, binary) < 0)
         goto error;