diff --git a/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c b/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c
index 5f2841bb7d..12e3f30bad 100644
--- a/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c
+++ b/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c
@@ -1130,8 +1130,9 @@ udevProcessCSS(struct udev_device *device,
                virNodeDeviceDefPtr def)
 {
     /* only process IO subchannel and vfio-ccw devices to keep the list sane */
-    if (STRNEQ(def->driver, "io_subchannel") &&
-        STRNEQ(def->driver, "vfio_ccw"))
+    if (!def->driver ||
+        (STRNEQ(def->driver, "io_subchannel") &&
+         STRNEQ(def->driver, "vfio_ccw")))
         return -1;
 
     if (udevGetCCWAddress(def->sysfs_path, &def->caps->data) < 0)