diff --git a/src/util/virxml.h b/src/util/virxml.h
index 78a1e7fa5ef71736b17de85ab683d24c15eaca5b..b91fedde82a5f9d0a6a75ed339787de0628767a0 100644
--- a/src/util/virxml.h
+++ b/src/util/virxml.h
@@ -217,7 +217,8 @@ int
 virXMLFormatElement(virBufferPtr buf,
                     const char *name,
                     virBufferPtr attrBuf,
-                    virBufferPtr childBuf);
+                    virBufferPtr childBuf)
+    ATTRIBUTE_RETURN_CHECK;
 
 struct _virXPathContextNodeSave {
     xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt;