diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 4cd9ffc194..fda1c6caa6 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -8831,8 +8831,10 @@ virDomainNetDefParseXMLDriver(virDomainNetDef *def,
 {
     xmlNodePtr driver_node;
 
-    if ((driver_node = virXPathNode("./driver", ctxt)) &&
-        (virDomainVirtioOptionsParseXML(driver_node, &def->virtio) < 0))
+    if (!(driver_node = virXPathNode("./driver", ctxt)))
+        return 0;
+
+    if (virDomainVirtioOptionsParseXML(driver_node, &def->virtio) < 0)
         return -1;
 
     if (def->type != VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_HOSTDEV &&