diff --git a/src/conf/node_device_conf.c b/src/conf/node_device_conf.c
index f5283a77b3..a5af936b9a 100644
--- a/src/conf/node_device_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/node_device_conf.c
@@ -833,15 +833,14 @@ virNodeDevCapsDefParseIntOptional(const char *xpath,
 static int
 virNodeDevCapsDefParseULong(const char *xpath,
                             xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt,
-                            unsigned *value,
+                            unsigned int *value,
                             virNodeDeviceDef *def,
                             const char *missing_error_fmt,
                             const char *invalid_error_fmt)
 {
     int ret;
-    unsigned long val;
 
-    ret = virXPathULong(xpath, ctxt, &val);
+    ret = virXPathUInt(xpath, ctxt, value);
     if (ret < 0) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
                        ret == -1 ? missing_error_fmt : invalid_error_fmt,
@@ -849,7 +848,6 @@ virNodeDevCapsDefParseULong(const char *xpath,
         return -1;
     }
 
-    *value = val;
     return 0;
 }