diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c b/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
index 29a0573cafe825da064c6fde7b2373d5f99f406e..5588f52f9b918d3ac4e17bf24b51fd272f444a00 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
@@ -1372,7 +1372,8 @@ qemuDomainChangeNetFilter(virConnectPtr conn,
 
     virDomainConfNWFilterTeardown(olddev);
 
-    if (virDomainConfNWFilterInstantiate(conn, vm->def->uuid, newdev) < 0) {
+    if (newdev->filter &&
+        virDomainConfNWFilterInstantiate(conn, vm->def->uuid, newdev) < 0) {
         virErrorPtr errobj;
 
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_FAILED,