diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 664397d55a..de6a631e50 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -7881,13 +7881,6 @@ qemuBuildInterfaceCommandLine(virCommandPtr cmd,
     if (actualType == VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_VHOSTUSER)
         return qemuBuildVhostuserCommandLine(cmd, def, net, qemuCaps, bootindex);
 
-    if (actualType == VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_HOSTDEV) {
-        /* NET_TYPE_HOSTDEV devices are really hostdev devices, so
-         * their commandlines are constructed with other hostdevs.
-         */
-        return 0;
-    }
-
     /* Currently nothing besides TAP devices supports multiqueue. */
     if (net->driver.virtio.queues > 0 &&
         !(actualType == VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_NETWORK ||
@@ -7967,6 +7960,12 @@ qemuBuildInterfaceCommandLine(virCommandPtr cmd,
         if (qemuInterfaceEthernetConnect(def, driver, net,
                                        tapfd, tapfdSize) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
+    } else if (actualType == VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_HOSTDEV) {
+        /* NET_TYPE_HOSTDEV devices are really hostdev devices, so
+         * their commandlines are constructed with other hostdevs.
+         */
+        ret = 0;
+        goto cleanup;
     }
 
     /* For types whose implementations use a netdev on the host, add
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-net-hostdev-fail.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-net-hostdev-fail.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7807d793f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-net-hostdev-fail.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>219136</memory>
+  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>219136</currentMemory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='i686' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='hd'/>
+  </os>
+  <clock offset='utc'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu</emulator>
+    <disk type='block' device='disk'>
+      <source dev='/dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest1'/>
+      <target dev='hda' bus='ide'/>
+      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' target='0' unit='0'/>
+    </disk>
+    <controller type='usb' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='ide' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'/>
+    <interface type='hostdev' managed='yes'>
+      <mac address='00:11:22:33:44:55'/>
+      <source>
+        <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x03' slot='0x07' function='0x1'/>
+      </source>
+      <model type='virtio'/>
+      <filterref filter='myfilter'/>
+      <backend tap='/dev/mytap'/>
+      <driver queues='4'/>
+    </interface>
+    <input type='mouse' bus='ps2'/>
+    <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'/>
+    <memballoon model='virtio'/>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index b9961823f8..3a8835d796 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -1109,6 +1109,10 @@ mymain(void)
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_VFIO_PCI, QEMU_CAPS_HOST_PCI_MULTIDOMAIN);
     DO_TEST_FAILURE("net-hostdev-vfio-multidomain",
                     QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_VFIO_PCI);
+    DO_TEST_FAILURE("net-hostdev-fail",
+                    QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG,
+                    QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_VFIO_PCI);
+
 
     DO_TEST("serial-vc", NONE);
     DO_TEST("serial-pty", NONE);