diff --git a/cfg.mk b/cfg.mk
index c2524de5fc..7762422da7 100644
--- a/cfg.mk
+++ b/cfg.mk
@@ -120,7 +120,6 @@ useless_free_options = \
   --name=virConfFreeValue \
   --name=virDomainActualNetDefFree \
   --name=virDomainChrDefFree \
-  --name=virDomainChrSourceDefFree \
   --name=virDomainControllerDefFree \
   --name=virDomainDefFree \
   --name=virDomainDeviceDefFree \
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 6f96e6bcdb..477deb777e 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -2199,7 +2199,7 @@ virDomainNetDefClear(virDomainNetDefPtr def)
 
     switch (def->type) {
     case VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_VHOSTUSER:
-        virDomainChrSourceDefFree(def->data.vhostuser);
+        virObjectUnref(def->data.vhostuser);
         def->data.vhostuser = NULL;
         break;
 
@@ -2438,13 +2438,6 @@ virDomainChrSourceDefDispose(void *obj)
 }
 
 
-void
-virDomainChrSourceDefFree(virDomainChrSourceDefPtr def)
-{
-    virObjectUnref(def);
-}
-
-
 /* virDomainChrSourceDefIsEqual:
  * @src: Source
  * @tgt: Target
@@ -2535,7 +2528,7 @@ void virDomainChrDefFree(virDomainChrDefPtr def)
         break;
     }
 
-    virDomainChrSourceDefFree(def->source);
+    virObjectUnref(def->source);
     virDomainDeviceInfoClear(&def->info);
 
     VIR_FREE(def);
@@ -2558,7 +2551,7 @@ void virDomainSmartcardDefFree(virDomainSmartcardDefPtr def)
         break;
 
     case VIR_DOMAIN_SMARTCARD_TYPE_PASSTHROUGH:
-        virDomainChrSourceDefFree(def->data.passthru);
+        virObjectUnref(def->data.passthru);
         break;
 
     default:
@@ -2817,7 +2810,7 @@ void virDomainRedirdevDefFree(virDomainRedirdevDefPtr def)
     if (!def)
         return;
 
-    virDomainChrSourceDefFree(def->source);
+    virObjectUnref(def->source);
     virDomainDeviceInfoClear(&def->info);
 
     VIR_FREE(def);
@@ -26540,7 +26533,7 @@ virDomainRNGDefFree(virDomainRNGDefPtr def)
         VIR_FREE(def->source.file);
         break;
     case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_EGD:
-        virDomainChrSourceDefFree(def->source.chardev);
+        virObjectUnref(def->source.chardev);
         break;
     case VIR_DOMAIN_RNG_BACKEND_LAST:
         break;
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index 1036eb9b10..1f8454b38c 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -2926,7 +2926,6 @@ void virDomainNetDefClear(virDomainNetDefPtr def);
 void virDomainNetDefFree(virDomainNetDefPtr def);
 void virDomainSmartcardDefFree(virDomainSmartcardDefPtr def);
 void virDomainChrDefFree(virDomainChrDefPtr def);
-void virDomainChrSourceDefFree(virDomainChrSourceDefPtr def);
 int virDomainChrSourceDefCopy(virDomainChrSourceDefPtr dest,
                               virDomainChrSourceDefPtr src);
 void virDomainSoundCodecDefFree(virDomainSoundCodecDefPtr def);
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index aa1b2c77be..038a744981 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -221,7 +221,6 @@ virDomainChrSerialTargetTypeFromString;
 virDomainChrSerialTargetTypeToString;
 virDomainChrSourceDefClear;
 virDomainChrSourceDefCopy;
-virDomainChrSourceDefFree;
 virDomainChrSourceDefGetPath;
 virDomainChrSourceDefNew;
 virDomainChrSpicevmcTypeFromString;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index c793c16668..55bb0ab5aa 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -2063,7 +2063,7 @@ qemuDomainObjPrivateFree(void *data)
 
     qemuDomainObjPrivateDataClear(priv);
 
-    virDomainChrSourceDefFree(priv->monConfig);
+    virObjectUnref(priv->monConfig);
     qemuDomainObjFreeJob(priv);
     VIR_FREE(priv->lockState);
     VIR_FREE(priv->origname);
@@ -3073,7 +3073,7 @@ qemuDomainObjPrivateXMLParse(xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt,
     VIR_FREE(tmp);
     virBitmapFree(priv->namespaces);
     priv->namespaces = NULL;
-    virDomainChrSourceDefFree(priv->monConfig);
+    virObjectUnref(priv->monConfig);
     priv->monConfig = NULL;
     virStringListFree(priv->qemuDevices);
     priv->qemuDevices = NULL;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_parse_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_parse_command.c
index 81691cb85e..49b34b1c17 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_parse_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_parse_command.c
@@ -2495,7 +2495,7 @@ qemuParseCommandLine(virFileCachePtr capsCache,
                     goto error;
 
                 if (qemuParseCommandLineChr(chr, val) < 0) {
-                    virDomainChrSourceDefFree(chr);
+                    virObjectUnref(chr);
                     goto error;
                 }
 
@@ -2732,7 +2732,7 @@ qemuParseCommandLine(virFileCachePtr capsCache,
     virStringListFree(list);
     VIR_FREE(nics);
     if (monConfig) {
-        virDomainChrSourceDefFree(*monConfig);
+        virObjectUnref(*monConfig);
         *monConfig = NULL;
     }
     if (pidfile)
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index f06fe62f99..68c670d3f2 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -1887,8 +1887,7 @@ qemuConnectMonitor(virQEMUDriverPtr driver, virDomainObjPtr vm, int asyncJob,
     virObjectRef(vm);
 
     ignore_value(virTimeMillisNow(&priv->monStart));
-    monConfig = priv->monConfig;
-    virObjectRef(monConfig);
+    monConfig = virObjectRef(priv->monConfig);
     virObjectUnlock(vm);
 
     mon = qemuMonitorOpen(vm,
@@ -7184,7 +7183,7 @@ void qemuProcessStop(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
     if (priv->monConfig) {
         if (priv->monConfig->type == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_UNIX)
             unlink(priv->monConfig->data.nix.path);
-        virDomainChrSourceDefFree(priv->monConfig);
+        virObjectUnref(priv->monConfig);
         priv->monConfig = NULL;
     }