diff --git a/src/util/virconf.c b/src/util/virconf.c
index 9952f3fee0a2bf46623b1cf0f60203d1629ab380..e882d150752cc813fdb56f56f6ef8543fad1148d 100644
--- a/src/util/virconf.c
+++ b/src/util/virconf.c
@@ -589,7 +589,10 @@ virConfParseComment(virConfParserCtxtPtr ctxt)
     while ((ctxt->cur < ctxt->end) && (!IS_EOL(CUR))) NEXT;
     if (VIR_STRNDUP(comm, base, ctxt->cur - base) < 0)
         return -1;
-    virConfAddEntry(ctxt->conf, NULL, NULL, comm);
+    if (virConfAddEntry(ctxt->conf, NULL, NULL, comm) == NULL) {
+        VIR_FREE(comm);
+        return -1;
+    }
     return 0;
 }