diff --git a/src/conf/network_conf.c b/src/conf/network_conf.c
index 3d8bf054ffbe38e3903edb59403f24a543c2ddbf..52fcf3d2aa88cfd47895f87b38a578df7fcda339 100644
--- a/src/conf/network_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/network_conf.c
@@ -717,6 +717,7 @@ virNetworkDHCPHostDefParseXML(const char *networkName,
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
                            _("Invalid character '%c' in id '%s' of network '%s'"),
                            *cp, id, networkName);
+            goto cleanup;
         }
     }