diff --git a/src/conf/virnwfilterobj.c b/src/conf/virnwfilterobj.c
index 2a060fb851..c69407ac80 100644
--- a/src/conf/virnwfilterobj.c
+++ b/src/conf/virnwfilterobj.c
@@ -500,14 +500,14 @@ virNWFilterObjListLoadConfig(virNWFilterObjListPtr nwfilters,
         goto error;
     }
 
+    if (!(obj = virNWFilterObjListAssignDef(nwfilters, def)))
+        goto error;
+
     /* We generated a UUID, make it permanent by saving the config to disk */
     if (!def->uuid_specified &&
         virNWFilterSaveConfig(configDir, def) < 0)
         goto error;
 
-    if (!(obj = virNWFilterObjListAssignDef(nwfilters, def)))
-        goto error;
-
     VIR_FREE(configFile);
     return obj;