diff --git a/src/util/virpci.c b/src/util/virpci.c
index 3d18bb3afc..ca117db0c1 100644
--- a/src/util/virpci.c
+++ b/src/util/virpci.c
@@ -2487,6 +2487,8 @@ virPCIGetPhysicalFunction(const char *vf_sysfs_path,
 {
     char *device_link = NULL;
 
+    *pf = NULL;
+
     if (virBuildPath(&device_link, vf_sysfs_path, "physfn") == -1) {
         virReportOOMError();
         return -1;