diff --git a/src/util/vircgroupv2.c b/src/util/vircgroupv2.c
index 2aca4e5d62113e8570d71c236fac19b87110ed5b..0663c671905c6ed93d10fd39b8049748488f8703 100644
--- a/src/util/vircgroupv2.c
+++ b/src/util/vircgroupv2.c
@@ -1508,7 +1508,7 @@ virCgroupV2SetCpuCfsPeriod(virCgroupPtr group,
                        _("Invalid 'cpu.max' data."));
         return -1;
     }
-    *tmp = '\n';
+    *tmp = '\0';
 
     if (virAsprintf(&value, "%s %llu", str, cfs_period) < 0)
         return -1;