diff --git a/src/storage/storage_driver.c b/src/storage/storage_driver.c
index c8f259e317348284d2b0c1556d362dc875c5dd64..ed5395be9cbc68634f92510bce6c9863810c25a3 100644
--- a/src/storage/storage_driver.c
+++ b/src/storage/storage_driver.c
@@ -930,7 +930,8 @@ storagePoolCreate(virStoragePoolPtr obj,
 
  cleanup:
     VIR_FREE(stateFile);
-    virStoragePoolObjUnlock(pool);
+    if (pool)
+        virStoragePoolObjUnlock(pool);
     return ret;
 }