diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index e0c3a07568..73ee1e4817 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -3168,6 +3168,9 @@ virQEMUCapsProbeQMPTPM(virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps,
     if (qemuMonitorGetTPMModels(mon, &models) < 0)
         return -1;
 
+    if (!models)
+        return 0;
+
     for (i = 0; i < G_N_ELEMENTS(virQEMUCapsTPMModelsToCaps); i++) {
         const char *needle = virDomainTPMModelTypeToString(virQEMUCapsTPMModelsToCaps[i].type);
         if (g_strv_contains((const char **)models, needle))
@@ -3177,6 +3180,9 @@ virQEMUCapsProbeQMPTPM(virQEMUCaps *qemuCaps,
     if (qemuMonitorGetTPMTypes(mon, &types) < 0)
         return -1;
 
+    if (!types)
+        return 0;
+
     for (i = 0; i < G_N_ELEMENTS(virQEMUCapsTPMTypesToCaps); i++) {
         const char *needle = virDomainTPMBackendTypeToString(virQEMUCapsTPMTypesToCaps[i].type);
         if (g_strv_contains((const char **)types, needle))