diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 42069ee617..7fe86d4d2e 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -8241,8 +8241,6 @@ qemuDomainDetachDeviceConfig(virDomainDefPtr vmdef,
             return -1;
 
         virDomainChrDefFree(chr);
-        virDomainChrDefFree(dev->data.chr);
-        dev->data.chr = NULL;
         break;
 
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_FS: