diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 828667b9c5eec3962a4b9e198407258f4cec4715..f358c7579927ed26fda4e03ee4dec7a362392992 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -19722,7 +19722,7 @@ virDomainListPopulate(void *payload,
     /* just count the machines */
     if (!data->domains) {
         data->ndomains++;
-        return;
+        goto cleanup;
     }
 
     if (!(dom = virGetDomain(data->conn, vm->def->name, vm->def->uuid))) {