diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index ce19be78e9259b23e3c701c2c0beccd22125b8b5..b8150468f35081d62eed8ef04484851f491b36c9 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -293,6 +293,7 @@ static void qemuDomainSnapshotLoad(void *payload,
     int ret;
     char *fullpath;
     virDomainSnapshotDefPtr def = NULL;
+    virDomainSnapshotObjPtr snap = NULL;
     char ebuf[1024];
 
     virDomainObjLock(vm);
@@ -344,7 +345,10 @@ static void qemuDomainSnapshotLoad(void *payload,
             continue;
         }
 
-        virDomainSnapshotAssignDef(&vm->snapshots, def);
+        snap = virDomainSnapshotAssignDef(&vm->snapshots, def);
+        if (snap == NULL) {
+            virDomainSnapshotDefFree(def);
+        }
 
         VIR_FREE(fullpath);
         VIR_FREE(xmlStr);