diff --git a/src/util/virfirewall.c b/src/util/virfirewall.c
index 2251f97bae..a972c05d5b 100644
--- a/src/util/virfirewall.c
+++ b/src/util/virfirewall.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * virfirewall.c: integration with firewalls
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2013, 2014 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2013-2015 Red Hat, Inc.
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -932,6 +932,14 @@ virFirewallApply(virFirewallPtr firewall)
 
     virMutexLock(&ruleLock);
 
+    if (currentBackend == VIR_FIREWALL_BACKEND_AUTOMATIC) {
+        /* a specific backend should have been set when the firewall
+         * object was created. If not, it means none was found.
+         */
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                       _("Failed to initialize a valid firewall backend"));
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
     if (!firewall || firewall->err == ENOMEM) {
         virReportOOMError();
         goto cleanup;