diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_agent.c b/src/qemu/qemu_agent.c
index 5735ed8989c5d84e1fd9cb7a509a9f825eda0dbb..f979f82b49a42f1245ae563b293b2ad8d228bbfa 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_agent.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_agent.c
@@ -710,7 +710,7 @@ qemuAgentIO(int watch, int fd, int events, void *opaque)
 
 qemuAgentPtr
 qemuAgentOpen(virDomainObjPtr vm,
-              virDomainChrSourceDefPtr config,
+              const virDomainChrSourceDef *config,
               qemuAgentCallbacksPtr cb)
 {
     qemuAgentPtr mon;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_agent.h b/src/qemu/qemu_agent.h
index 7cbf8ebb5e561d3e32872d6c4302cc1ef615ef91..c092504a38c7c77862de6da44b00d8be40c19e5b 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_agent.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_agent.h
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ struct _qemuAgentCallbacks {
 
 
 qemuAgentPtr qemuAgentOpen(virDomainObjPtr vm,
-                           virDomainChrSourceDefPtr config,
+                           const virDomainChrSourceDef *config,
                            qemuAgentCallbacksPtr cb);
 
 void qemuAgentClose(qemuAgentPtr mon);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 55d5e7103ce373c883bdd6f12ba1208893d4cf3d..e8c291fc6748c690d72d447ea5a5b91671c7d3ff 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -3704,10 +3704,9 @@ qemuDomainSupportsBlockJobs(virDomainObjPtr vm,
  * Returns the pointer to the channel definition that is used to access the
  * guest agent if the agent is configured or NULL otherwise.
  */
-virDomainChrSourceDefPtr
+virDomainChrDefPtr
 qemuFindAgentConfig(virDomainDefPtr def)
 {
-    virDomainChrSourceDefPtr config = NULL;
     size_t i;
 
     for (i = 0; i < def->nchannels; i++) {
@@ -3716,13 +3715,11 @@ qemuFindAgentConfig(virDomainDefPtr def)
         if (channel->targetType != VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_VIRTIO)
             continue;
 
-        if (STREQ_NULLABLE(channel->target.name, "org.qemu.guest_agent.0")) {
-            config = &channel->source;
-            break;
-        }
+        if (STREQ_NULLABLE(channel->target.name, "org.qemu.guest_agent.0"))
+            return channel;
     }
 
-    return config;
+    return NULL;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
index 82495dc1808893834f97c4f68a9e8e2d5a7405e2..7fc4fffacecc000a7004bccb6ea5a2c988f0a2d2 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
@@ -487,7 +487,7 @@ int qemuDomainAlignMemorySizes(virDomainDefPtr def);
 void qemuDomainMemoryDeviceAlignSize(virDomainDefPtr def,
                                      virDomainMemoryDefPtr mem);
 
-virDomainChrSourceDefPtr qemuFindAgentConfig(virDomainDefPtr def);
+virDomainChrDefPtr qemuFindAgentConfig(virDomainDefPtr def);
 
 bool qemuDomainMachineIsQ35(const virDomainDef *def);
 bool qemuDomainMachineIsI440FX(const virDomainDef *def);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 730eb2cc211a6744b9a3db3b2df4e4a8c086ab7a..3d9e0e580c90bfdfcdd129ebfa80d55f0729b5f3 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ qemuConnectAgent(virQEMUDriverPtr driver, virDomainObjPtr vm)
     qemuDomainObjPrivatePtr priv = vm->privateData;
     int ret = -1;
     qemuAgentPtr agent = NULL;
-    virDomainChrSourceDefPtr config = qemuFindAgentConfig(vm->def);
+    virDomainChrDefPtr config = qemuFindAgentConfig(vm->def);
 
     if (!config)
         return 0;
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ qemuConnectAgent(virQEMUDriverPtr driver, virDomainObjPtr vm)
     virObjectUnlock(vm);
 
     agent = qemuAgentOpen(vm,
-                          config,
+                          &config->source,
                           &agentCallbacks);
 
     virObjectLock(vm);