diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 306547e798..ef5f02a23b 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -6065,20 +6065,14 @@ virDomainHostdevSubsysSCSIDefParseXML(xmlNodePtr sourcenode,
                                       unsigned int flags,
                                       virDomainXMLOption *xmlopt)
 {
-    g_autofree char *protocol = NULL;
-
-    if ((protocol = virXMLPropString(sourcenode, "protocol"))) {
-        scsisrc->protocol =
-            virDomainHostdevSubsysSCSIProtocolTypeFromString(protocol);
-        if (scsisrc->protocol < 0) {
-            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
-                           _("Unknown SCSI subsystem protocol '%1$s'"),
-                           protocol);
-            return -1;
-        }
+    if (virXMLPropEnum(sourcenode, "protocol",
+                       virDomainHostdevSubsysSCSIProtocolTypeFromString,
+                       VIR_XML_PROP_NONE,
+                       &scsisrc->protocol) < 0) {
+        return -1;
     }
 
-    switch ((virDomainHostdevSCSIProtocolType) scsisrc->protocol) {
+    switch (scsisrc->protocol) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_HOSTDEV_SCSI_PROTOCOL_TYPE_NONE:
         return virDomainHostdevSubsysSCSIHostDefParseXML(sourcenode, ctxt, scsisrc,
                                                          flags, xmlopt);
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index ca195a52d2..5cce60420f 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ typedef enum {
 } virDomainDeviceSGIO;
 
 struct _virDomainHostdevSubsysSCSI {
-    int protocol; /* enum virDomainHostdevSCSIProtocolType */
+    virDomainHostdevSCSIProtocolType protocol;
     virDomainDeviceSGIO sgio;
     virTristateBool rawio;
     union {
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index be5814663c..ccbf41a0f7 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -5033,7 +5033,7 @@ qemuBuildHostdevSCSIDetachPrepare(virDomainHostdevDef *hostdev,
     virStorageSource *src;
     qemuDomainStorageSourcePrivate *srcpriv;
 
-    switch ((virDomainHostdevSCSIProtocolType) scsisrc->protocol) {
+    switch (scsisrc->protocol) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_HOSTDEV_SCSI_PROTOCOL_TYPE_NONE:
         src = scsisrc->u.host.src;
         break;
@@ -5068,7 +5068,7 @@ qemuBuildHostdevSCSIAttachPrepare(virDomainHostdevDef *hostdev,
     g_autoptr(qemuBlockStorageSourceAttachData) ret = g_new0(qemuBlockStorageSourceAttachData, 1);
     virStorageSource *src = NULL;
 
-    switch ((virDomainHostdevSCSIProtocolType) scsisrc->protocol) {
+    switch (scsisrc->protocol) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_HOSTDEV_SCSI_PROTOCOL_TYPE_NONE:
         src = scsisrc->u.host.src;
         break;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index e578df624b..069f145d26 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -6008,7 +6008,7 @@ qemuDomainDeviceHostdevDefPostParseRestoreBackendAlias(virDomainHostdevDef *host
         hostdev->source.subsys.type != VIR_DOMAIN_HOSTDEV_SUBSYS_TYPE_SCSI)
         return 0;
 
-    switch ((virDomainHostdevSCSIProtocolType) scsisrc->protocol) {
+    switch (scsisrc->protocol) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_HOSTDEV_SCSI_PROTOCOL_TYPE_NONE:
         if (!scsisrc->u.host.src)
             scsisrc->u.host.src = virStorageSourceNew();
@@ -11373,7 +11373,7 @@ qemuDomainPrepareHostdevSCSI(virDomainHostdevDef *hostdev,
     virStorageSource *src = NULL;
     g_autofree char *devstr = NULL;
 
-    switch ((virDomainHostdevSCSIProtocolType) scsisrc->protocol) {
+    switch (scsisrc->protocol) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_HOSTDEV_SCSI_PROTOCOL_TYPE_NONE:
         virObjectUnref(scsisrc->u.host.src);
         scsisrc->u.host.src = virStorageSourceNew();