diff --git a/src/util/virsystemd.c b/src/util/virsystemd.c
index 7d6985b0e353e43894deda31d8f861b5d493c8cc..604dcdd0ad24747a8b443686664006c3f7afd69f 100644
--- a/src/util/virsystemd.c
+++ b/src/util/virsystemd.c
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ int virSystemdTerminateMachine(const char *name)
                           name) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
-    if (error.code == VIR_ERR_ERROR &&
+    if (error.level == VIR_ERR_ERROR &&
         STRNEQ_NULLABLE("org.freedesktop.machine1.NoSuchMachine",
                         error.str1)) {
         virReportErrorObject(&error);