diff --git a/src/util/virstoragefile.c b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
index 7aeeab0739c3dfe7422e5188321c77b52f7d62e2..f8e41025883d488aca4e10d848d263ef149a615b 100644
--- a/src/util/virstoragefile.c
+++ b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
@@ -5053,14 +5053,15 @@ virStorageFileGetMetadataRecurse(virStorageSourcePtr src,
             ret = 0;
             goto cleanup;
         }
+
+        backingStore->id = depth;
+        src->backingStore = g_steal_pointer(&backingStore);
     } else {
         /* add terminator */
-        if (!(backingStore = virStorageSourceNew()))
+        if (!(src->backingStore = virStorageSourceNew()))
             goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    src->backingStore = g_steal_pointer(&backingStore);
-
     if (src->externalDataStoreRaw) {
         g_autoptr(virStorageSource) externalDataStore = NULL;
 
@@ -5080,8 +5081,6 @@ virStorageFileGetMetadataRecurse(virStorageSourcePtr src,
     ret = 0;
 
  cleanup:
-    if (virStorageSourceHasBacking(src))
-        src->backingStore->id = depth;
     virStorageFileDeinit(src);
     return ret;
 }