diff --git a/cfg.mk b/cfg.mk
index b5f853bcb8c47dc6750ee96bd66b2624fa57ab52..97e573b5b29530e3153c6e9b011790745f7de844 100644
--- a/cfg.mk
+++ b/cfg.mk
@@ -992,7 +992,7 @@ sc_prohibit_system_error_with_vir_err:
 # functions. There's a corresponding exclude to allow usage within tests,
 # docs, examples, tools, src/libvirt-*.c, and include/libvirt/libvirt-*.h
 sc_prohibit_virXXXFree:
-	@prohibit='\bvir(Domain|Network)Free\b'	\
+	@prohibit='\bvir(Domain|Network|NodeDevice)Free\b'	\
 	exclude='sc_prohibit_virXXXFree' \
 	halt='avoid using 'virXXXFree', use 'virObjectUnref' instead' \
 	  $(_sc_search_regexp)
@@ -1186,4 +1186,4 @@ exclude_file_name_regexp--sc_prohibit_devname = \
   ^(tools/virsh.pod|cfg.mk|docs/.*)$$
 
 exclude_file_name_regexp--sc_prohibit_virXXXFree = \
-  ^(docs/|tests/|examples/|tools/|cfg.mk|src/libvirt_public.syms|include/libvirt/libvirt-(domain|network).h|src/libvirt-(domain|qemu|network).c$$)
+  ^(docs/|tests/|examples/|tools/|cfg.mk|src/libvirt_public.syms|include/libvirt/libvirt-(domain|network|nodedev).h|src/libvirt-(domain|qemu|network|nodedev).c$$)
diff --git a/daemon/remote.c b/daemon/remote.c
index edae335252266f2135ad2ae8347ac2ea6e235e5b..cfda8d8fa260f719af801ef294632596c81ecc83 100644
--- a/daemon/remote.c
+++ b/daemon/remote.c
@@ -3375,8 +3375,7 @@ remoteDispatchNodeDeviceGetParent(virNetServerPtr server ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
  cleanup:
     if (rv < 0)
         virNetMessageSaveError(rerr);
-    if (dev)
-        virNodeDeviceFree(dev);
+    virObjectUnref(dev);
     return rv;
 }
 
@@ -4908,7 +4907,7 @@ remoteDispatchConnectListAllNodeDevices(virNetServerPtr server ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
         virNetMessageSaveError(rerr);
     if (devices && ndevices > 0) {
         for (i = 0; i < ndevices; i++)
-            virNodeDeviceFree(devices[i]);
+            virObjectUnref(devices[i]);
         VIR_FREE(devices);
     }
     return rv;
diff --git a/src/conf/node_device_conf.c b/src/conf/node_device_conf.c
index 2a609e4cc6a3b70cab2f27748b47a4b91806a7db..03b88a22834f32855df635f0911132900cef933c 100644
--- a/src/conf/node_device_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/node_device_conf.c
@@ -1825,10 +1825,8 @@ virNodeDeviceObjListExport(virConnectPtr conn,
 
  cleanup:
     if (tmp_devices) {
-        for (i = 0; i < ndevices; i++) {
-            if (tmp_devices[i])
-                virNodeDeviceFree(tmp_devices[i]);
-        }
+        for (i = 0; i < ndevices; i++)
+            virObjectUnref(tmp_devices[i]);
     }
 
     VIR_FREE(tmp_devices);
diff --git a/src/remote/remote_driver.c b/src/remote/remote_driver.c
index c23a087f53f00b32250832e6d26d0d4f42589a2b..d03b159e231f4cf06e7b9cdc985f7581630858eb 100644
--- a/src/remote/remote_driver.c
+++ b/src/remote/remote_driver.c
@@ -3387,8 +3387,7 @@ remoteConnectListAllNodeDevices(virConnectPtr conn,
  cleanup:
     if (tmp_devices) {
         for (i = 0; i < ret.devices.devices_len; i++)
-            if (tmp_devices[i])
-                virNodeDeviceFree(tmp_devices[i]);
+            virObjectUnref(tmp_devices[i]);
         VIR_FREE(tmp_devices);
     }