diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 5bdc698848..f4c9e67d16 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -12433,7 +12433,7 @@ qemuConnectCPUModelBaseline(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
 
     baseline = g_new0(virCPUDef, 1);
 
-    if (virCPUDefCopyModel(baseline, cpus[0], false))
+    if (virCPUDefCopyModel(baseline, cpus[0], false) < 0)
         return NULL;
 
     for (i = 1; i < ncpus; i++) {