diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index 3247d2567599115b1e0f74bfd262bbca88d75fb6..399e3144762b33a595f1440b96a5b24b8fdf7ade 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -4928,6 +4928,10 @@ virQEMUCapsCacheLookupCopy(virCapsPtr caps,
 
     ret = virQEMUCapsNewCopy(qemuCaps);
     virObjectUnref(qemuCaps);
+
+    if (!ret)
+        return NULL;
+
     virQEMUCapsFilterByMachineType(ret, machineType);
     return ret;
 }