diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 9ea2334837e15c5f75e8cc73caf4f918df018c4a..8bd9461f1e3de8cefc536bb4104ae72aa7df8364 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -8531,37 +8531,27 @@ qemuBuildChannelsCommandLine(virLogManagerPtr logManager,
 
     for (i = 0; i < def->nchannels; i++) {
         virDomainChrDefPtr channel = def->channels[i];
-        char *devstr;
+        g_autofree char *chardevstr = NULL;
+        g_autofree char *netdevstr = NULL;
 
-        switch ((virDomainChrChannelTargetType) channel->targetType) {
-        case VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_GUESTFWD:
-            if (!(devstr = qemuBuildChrChardevStr(logManager, secManager,
+        if (!(chardevstr = qemuBuildChrChardevStr(logManager, secManager,
                                                   cmd, cfg, def,
                                                   channel->source,
                                                   channel->info.alias,
                                                   qemuCaps, cdevflags)))
-                return -1;
-            virCommandAddArg(cmd, "-chardev");
-            virCommandAddArg(cmd, devstr);
-            VIR_FREE(devstr);
+            return -1;
 
-            if (qemuBuildChrDeviceStr(&devstr, def, channel, qemuCaps) < 0)
+        virCommandAddArg(cmd, "-chardev");
+        virCommandAddArg(cmd, chardevstr);
+
+        switch ((virDomainChrChannelTargetType) channel->targetType) {
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_GUESTFWD:
+            if (qemuBuildChrDeviceStr(&netdevstr, def, channel, qemuCaps) < 0)
                 return -1;
-            virCommandAddArgList(cmd, "-netdev", devstr, NULL);
-            VIR_FREE(devstr);
+            virCommandAddArgList(cmd, "-netdev", netdevstr, NULL);
             break;
 
         case VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_VIRTIO:
-            if (!(devstr = qemuBuildChrChardevStr(logManager, secManager,
-                                                  cmd, cfg, def,
-                                                  channel->source,
-                                                  channel->info.alias,
-                                                  qemuCaps, cdevflags)))
-                return -1;
-            virCommandAddArg(cmd, "-chardev");
-            virCommandAddArg(cmd, devstr);
-            VIR_FREE(devstr);
-
             if (qemuBuildChrDeviceCommandLine(cmd, def, channel, qemuCaps) < 0)
                 return -1;
             break;