diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 009abc612a804f74647820a3db71df05272c49d0..d1f960007b36116e1bfbb32c619a74e1fe3a5ab5 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -5831,7 +5831,7 @@ qemuDomainRestoreFlags(virConnectPtr conn,
                                    &xmlout)) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
 
-        if (hookret == 0 && xmlout) {
+        if (hookret == 0 && !virStringIsEmpty(xmlout)) {
             VIR_DEBUG("Using hook-filtered domain XML: %s", xmlout);
             hook_taint = true;
             newxml = xmlout;
@@ -6047,7 +6047,7 @@ qemuDomainObjRestore(virConnectPtr conn,
                                    NULL, xml, &xmlout)) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
 
-        if (hookret == 0 && xmlout) {
+        if (hookret == 0 && !virStringIsEmpty(xmlout)) {
             virDomainDefPtr tmp;
 
             VIR_DEBUG("Using hook-filtered domain XML: %s", xmlout);