diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c b/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
index ccfb358ff7a4d8b10d7a380d96623cdf461420d4..cdf9eacd94c099c86998eb1055d7f4a74a96104e 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
@@ -1815,7 +1815,8 @@ qemuDomainChangeNetFilter(virConnectPtr conn,
 
     virDomainConfNWFilterTeardown(olddev);
 
-    if (virDomainConfNWFilterInstantiate(conn, vm->def->uuid, newdev) < 0) {
+    if (newdev->filter &&
+        virDomainConfNWFilterInstantiate(conn, vm->def->uuid, newdev) < 0) {
         virErrorPtr errobj;
 
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_FAILED,