diff --git a/src/util/virhostdev.c b/src/util/virhostdev.c
index 2c557f5bbc6b0d70796ae334126fa4d3a42de410..579563c3f3642bb72768b56ac34e4bc76551684a 100644
--- a/src/util/virhostdev.c
+++ b/src/util/virhostdev.c
@@ -1294,7 +1294,7 @@ virHostdevUpdateActiveMediatedDevices(virHostdevManagerPtr mgr,
 
         virMediatedDeviceSetUsedBy(mdev, drv_name, dom_name);
 
-        if (virMediatedDeviceListAdd(mgr->activeMediatedHostdevs, mdev) < 0)
+        if (virMediatedDeviceListAdd(mgr->activeMediatedHostdevs, &mdev) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
     }
 
@@ -1790,7 +1790,7 @@ virHostdevPrepareMediatedDevices(virHostdevManagerPtr mgr,
         if (!(mdev = virMediatedDeviceNew(src->uuidstr, src->model)))
             goto cleanup;
 
-        if (virMediatedDeviceListAdd(list, mdev) < 0) {
+        if (virMediatedDeviceListAdd(list, &mdev) < 0) {
             virMediatedDeviceFree(mdev);
             goto cleanup;
         }
diff --git a/src/util/virmdev.c b/src/util/virmdev.c
index c1499d23873dc3e00e43b076e6153c193ebc89fa..c861d21c9e9a17f2a1c105f36394b7a4b7f2ec32 100644
--- a/src/util/virmdev.c
+++ b/src/util/virmdev.c
@@ -312,16 +312,19 @@ virMediatedDeviceListDispose(void *obj)
 }
 
 
+/* The reason for @dev to be double pointer is that VIR_APPEND_ELEMENT clears
+ * the pointer and we need to clear the original not a copy on the stack
+ */
 int
 virMediatedDeviceListAdd(virMediatedDeviceListPtr list,
-                         virMediatedDevicePtr dev)
+                         virMediatedDevicePtr *dev)
 {
-    if (virMediatedDeviceListFind(list, dev)) {
+    if (virMediatedDeviceListFind(list, *dev)) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
-                       _("device %s is already in use"), dev->path);
+                       _("device %s is already in use"), (*dev)->path);
         return -1;
     }
-    return VIR_APPEND_ELEMENT(list->devs, list->count, dev);
+    return VIR_APPEND_ELEMENT(list->devs, list->count, *dev);
 }
 
 
@@ -457,7 +460,7 @@ virMediatedDeviceListMarkDevices(virMediatedDeviceListPtr dst,
          * - caller is responsible for NOT freeing devices in @src on success
          * - we're responsible for performing a rollback on failure
          */
-        if (virMediatedDeviceListAdd(dst, mdev) < 0)
+        if (virMediatedDeviceListAdd(dst, &mdev) < 0)
             goto rollback;
 
         VIR_DEBUG("'%s' added to list of active mediated devices used by '%s'",
diff --git a/src/util/virmdev.h b/src/util/virmdev.h
index 2f3d6bb84012141b33e84add264504565164f183..8bb46b9c5cfd5cfb28e7e90f2a597afe49010bce 100644
--- a/src/util/virmdev.h
+++ b/src/util/virmdev.h
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ virMediatedDeviceListNew(void);
 
 int
 virMediatedDeviceListAdd(virMediatedDeviceListPtr list,
-                         virMediatedDevicePtr dev);
+                         virMediatedDevicePtr *dev);
 
 virMediatedDevicePtr
 virMediatedDeviceListGet(virMediatedDeviceListPtr list,