diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 025cc4a994212e8ed32ca565a074bc14b790ddd6..1ec6455d14c9a8bdd664c7cb2f40825816b20760 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -2848,10 +2848,10 @@ void virDomainHostdevDefClear(virDomainHostdevDefPtr def)
      * such resource is the virDomainDeviceInfo.
      */
 
-    /* If there is a parent device object, it will handle freeing
+    /* If there is a parentnet device object, it will handle freeing
      * def->info.
      */
-    if (def->parent.type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NONE)
+    if (!def->parentnet)
         virDomainDeviceInfoFree(def->info);
 
     switch (def->mode) {
@@ -2919,10 +2919,10 @@ void virDomainHostdevDefFree(virDomainHostdevDefPtr def)
     /* free all subordinate objects */
     virDomainHostdevDefClear(def);
 
-    /* If there is a parent device object, it will handle freeing
+    /* If there is a parentnet device object, it will handle freeing
      * the memory.
      */
-    if (def->parent.type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NONE)
+    if (!def->parentnet)
         VIR_FREE(def);
 }
 
@@ -5490,7 +5490,7 @@ virDomainDefCollectBootOrder(virDomainDefPtr def ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
         return 0;
 
     if (dev->type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_HOSTDEV &&
-        dev->data.hostdev->parent.type != VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NONE) {
+        dev->data.hostdev->parentnet) {
         /* This hostdev is a child of a higher level device
          * (e.g. interface), and thus already being counted on the
          * list for the other device type.
@@ -6340,7 +6340,7 @@ virDomainDeviceDefValidateAliasesIterator(virDomainDefPtr def,
         return 0;
 
     if (dev->type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_HOSTDEV &&
-        dev->data.hostdev->parent.type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NET) {
+        dev->data.hostdev->parentnet) {
         /* This hostdev is a copy of some previous interface.
          * Aliases are duplicated. */
         return 0;
@@ -11156,8 +11156,7 @@ virDomainActualNetDefParseXML(xmlNodePtr node,
     } else if (actual->type == VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_HOSTDEV) {
         virDomainHostdevDefPtr hostdev = &actual->data.hostdev.def;
 
-        hostdev->parent.type = VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NET;
-        hostdev->parent.data.net = parent;
+        hostdev->parentnet = parent;
         hostdev->info = &parent->info;
         /* The helper function expects type to already be found and
          * passed in as a string, since it is in a different place in
@@ -11809,8 +11808,7 @@ virDomainNetDefParseXML(virDomainXMLOptionPtr xmlopt,
 
     case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_HOSTDEV:
         hostdev = &def->data.hostdev.def;
-        hostdev->parent.type = VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NET;
-        hostdev->parent.data.net = def;
+        hostdev->parentnet = def;
         hostdev->info = &def->info;
         /* The helper function expects type to already be found and
          * passed in as a string, since it is in a different place in
@@ -28509,11 +28507,11 @@ virDomainDefFormatInternal(virDomainDefPtr def,
     }
 
     for (n = 0; n < def->nhostdevs; n++) {
-        /* If parent.type != NONE, this is just a pointer to the
+        /* If parentnet != NONE, this is just a pointer to the
          * hostdev in a higher-level device (e.g. virDomainNetDef),
          * and will have already been formatted there.
          */
-        if (def->hostdevs[n]->parent.type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NONE &&
+        if (!def->hostdevs[n]->parentnet &&
             virDomainHostdevDefFormat(buf, def->hostdevs[n], flags) < 0) {
             goto error;
         }
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index 8ef6d507b86b13a6e584015c6b64922daf2cbce5..c1bdf42c100087fd6fb414cdb543cd5816fa445a 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -331,7 +331,13 @@ struct _virDomainHostdevCaps {
 
 /* basic device for direct passthrough */
 struct _virDomainHostdevDef {
-    virDomainDeviceDef parent; /* higher level Def containing this */
+    /* If 'parentnet' is non-NULL it means this host dev was
+     * not originally present in the XML. It was copied from
+     * a network interface for convenience when handling
+     * hostdevs internally. This hostdev should never be
+     * visible to the user except as part of the interface
+     */
+    virDomainNetDefPtr parentnet;
 
     int mode; /* enum virDomainHostdevMode */
     int startupPolicy; /* enum virDomainStartupPolicy */
diff --git a/src/libxl/libxl_driver.c b/src/libxl/libxl_driver.c
index 506dcdfbebd3d54e0a0740962246774fe37be4c4..42221cb925d341e13ee80813604beb220c804b35 100644
--- a/src/libxl/libxl_driver.c
+++ b/src/libxl/libxl_driver.c
@@ -3915,9 +3915,9 @@ libxlDomainDetachDeviceLive(libxlDriverPrivatePtr driver,
             /* If this is a network hostdev, we need to use the higher-level
              * detach function so that mac address / virtualport are reset
              */
-            if (hostdev->parent.type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NET)
+            if (hostdev->parentnet)
                 ret = libxlDomainDetachNetDevice(driver, vm,
-                                                 hostdev->parent.data.net);
+                                                 hostdev->parentnet);
             else
                 ret = libxlDomainDetachHostDevice(driver, vm, hostdev);
             break;
diff --git a/src/network/bridge_driver.c b/src/network/bridge_driver.c
index a10013d6a11d0f04df9d7e597a8e4d3aebb2afdc..eb9a00f5cf23e8146d75b03aa84e46a52bf34ba6 100644
--- a/src/network/bridge_driver.c
+++ b/src/network/bridge_driver.c
@@ -4509,8 +4509,7 @@ networkAllocateActualDevice(virNetworkPtr net,
                            netdef->name);
             goto error;
         }
-        iface->data.network.actual->data.hostdev.def.parent.type = VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NET;
-        iface->data.network.actual->data.hostdev.def.parent.data.net = iface;
+        iface->data.network.actual->data.hostdev.def.parentnet = iface;
         iface->data.network.actual->data.hostdev.def.info = &iface->info;
         iface->data.network.actual->data.hostdev.def.mode = VIR_DOMAIN_HOSTDEV_MODE_SUBSYS;
         iface->data.network.actual->data.hostdev.def.managed = netdef->forward.managed ? 1 : 0;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 2acc0b56eab48f6d0e829fdb911b321df45b0475..df60a3653b5c4c15416c30f2f9a11e264fb39da1 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -5739,8 +5739,7 @@ qemuBuildHostdevCommandLine(virCommandPtr cmd,
             /* bootNet will be non-0 if boot order was set and no other
              * net devices were encountered
              */
-            if (hostdev->parent.type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NET &&
-                bootIndex == 0) {
+            if (hostdev->parentnet && bootIndex == 0) {
                 bootIndex = *bootHostdevNet;
                 *bootHostdevNet = 0;
             }
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain_address.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain_address.c
index 2ec21e65acaee965cf91429c15d9a53d69a11c5f..e28f8394a7c514713dace25d1feacb8cf5e5fada 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain_address.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain_address.c
@@ -1503,7 +1503,7 @@ qemuDomainCollectPCIAddress(virDomainDefPtr def ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
 
     if (!virDeviceInfoPCIAddressIsPresent(info) ||
         ((device->type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_HOSTDEV) &&
-         (device->data.hostdev->parent.type != VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NONE))) {
+         device->data.hostdev->parentnet)) {
         /* If a hostdev has a parent, its info will be a part of the
          * parent, and will have its address collected during the scan
          * of the parent's device type.
@@ -1598,7 +1598,7 @@ qemuDomainCollectPCIAddressExtension(virDomainDefPtr def ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
 
     if (!virDeviceInfoPCIAddressExtensionIsPresent(info) ||
         ((device->type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_HOSTDEV) &&
-         (device->data.hostdev->parent.type != VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NONE))) {
+         device->data.hostdev->parentnet)) {
         /* If a hostdev has a parent, its info will be a part of the
          * parent, and will have its address collected during the scan
          * of the parent's device type.
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c b/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
index 7275bc19385ea4fa85ab9d9426414e55f7484b2f..228ce2a76f0682edf5a41d267cee0752fa71626a 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
@@ -4713,11 +4713,9 @@ qemuDomainRemoveHostDevice(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
             goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    if (hostdev->parent.type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NET) {
-        net = hostdev->parent.data.net;
-
+    if (hostdev->parentnet) {
         for (i = 0; i < vm->def->nnets; i++) {
-            if (vm->def->nets[i] == net) {
+            if (vm->def->nets[i] == hostdev->parentnet) {
                 virDomainNetRemove(vm->def, i);
                 break;
             }
diff --git a/src/util/virhostdev.c b/src/util/virhostdev.c
index 6be395cddac766ec3e7fb1b95f2853067e2f2f02..19ae001971f78b834cef30e83d5c8d0563d007d2 100644
--- a/src/util/virhostdev.c
+++ b/src/util/virhostdev.c
@@ -333,8 +333,7 @@ virHostdevIsPCINetDevice(virDomainHostdevDefPtr hostdev)
 {
     return hostdev->mode == VIR_DOMAIN_HOSTDEV_MODE_SUBSYS &&
         hostdev->source.subsys.type == VIR_DOMAIN_HOSTDEV_SUBSYS_TYPE_PCI &&
-        hostdev->parent.type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NET &&
-        hostdev->parent.data.net;
+        hostdev->parentnet != NULL;
 }
 
 
@@ -427,7 +426,7 @@ virHostdevSaveNetConfig(virDomainHostdevDefPtr hostdev,
     int vf = -1;
 
     if (!virHostdevIsPCINetDevice(hostdev) ||
-        virDomainNetGetActualVirtPortProfile(hostdev->parent.data.net))
+        virDomainNetGetActualVirtPortProfile(hostdev->parentnet))
        return 0;
 
     if (virHostdevIsVirtualFunction(hostdev) != 1) {
@@ -474,8 +473,8 @@ virHostdevSetNetConfig(virDomainHostdevDefPtr hostdev,
     if (virHostdevNetDevice(hostdev, -1, &linkdev, &vf) < 0)
         return -1;
 
-    vlan = virDomainNetGetActualVlan(hostdev->parent.data.net);
-    virtPort = virDomainNetGetActualVirtPortProfile(hostdev->parent.data.net);
+    vlan = virDomainNetGetActualVlan(hostdev->parentnet);
+    virtPort = virDomainNetGetActualVirtPortProfile(hostdev->parentnet);
     if (virtPort) {
         if (vlan) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
@@ -485,11 +484,11 @@ virHostdevSetNetConfig(virDomainHostdevDefPtr hostdev,
             return -1;
         }
         if (virHostdevNetConfigVirtPortProfile(linkdev, vf, virtPort,
-                                               &hostdev->parent.data.net->mac,
+                                               &hostdev->parentnet->mac,
                                                uuid, port_profile_associate) < 0)
             return -1;
     } else {
-        if (virNetDevSetNetConfig(linkdev, vf, &hostdev->parent.data.net->mac,
+        if (virNetDevSetNetConfig(linkdev, vf, &hostdev->parentnet->mac,
                                   vlan, NULL, true) < 0)
             return -1;
     }
@@ -535,10 +534,10 @@ virHostdevRestoreNetConfig(virDomainHostdevDefPtr hostdev,
     if (virHostdevNetDevice(hostdev, 0, &linkdev, &vf) < 0)
         return -1;
 
-    virtPort = virDomainNetGetActualVirtPortProfile(hostdev->parent.data.net);
+    virtPort = virDomainNetGetActualVirtPortProfile(hostdev->parentnet);
     if (virtPort) {
         return virHostdevNetConfigVirtPortProfile(linkdev, vf, virtPort,
-                                                  &hostdev->parent.data.net->mac,
+                                                  &hostdev->parentnet->mac,
                                                   NULL,
                                                   port_profile_associate);
     } else {