diff --git a/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_gentech_driver.c b/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_gentech_driver.c
index da4f71daf1..655d0a3d25 100644
--- a/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_gentech_driver.c
+++ b/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_gentech_driver.c
@@ -519,11 +519,6 @@ virNWFilterDoInstantiate(virNWFilterTechDriver *techdriver,
 
     memset(&inst, 0, sizeof(inst));
 
-    if (!missing_vars) {
-        rc = -1;
-        goto error;
-    }
-
     rc = virNWFilterDetermineMissingVarsRec(filter,
                                             binding->filterparams,
                                             missing_vars,