diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index e5f19ddcaa28bddd8feaf0f1498735337502cc07..f65af5c2287d83db5c4fa1dc3f1561646b2817f2 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -1798,7 +1798,7 @@ virQEMUCapsAccelClear(virQEMUCapsAccelPtr caps)
     VIR_FREE(caps->machineTypes);
 
     virQEMUCapsHostCPUDataClear(&caps->hostCPU);
-    virObjectUnref(caps->cpuModels);
+    qemuMonitorCPUDefsFree(caps->cpuModels);
 }