diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 706e5d26c9..3a0b13e069 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -8609,6 +8609,7 @@ virDomainChrDefParseXML(xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt,
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
                        _("unknown character device type: %s"),
                        nodeName);
+        goto error;
     }
 
     cur = node->children;