diff --git a/src/conf/node_device_conf.c b/src/conf/node_device_conf.c
index dd174d3020..d7e1a23034 100644
--- a/src/conf/node_device_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/node_device_conf.c
@@ -1023,9 +1023,6 @@ virNodeDeviceCapVPDParseReadOnlyFields(xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt, virPCIVPDResourc
                               "serial_number", "part_number", NULL};
     size_t i = 0;
 
-    if (res == NULL)
-        return -1;
-
     res->ro = virPCIVPDResourceRONew();
 
     while (keywords[i]) {
@@ -1061,9 +1058,6 @@ virNodeDeviceCapVPDParseXML(xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt, virPCIVPDResource **res)
     size_t i = 0;
     g_autoptr(virPCIVPDResource) newres = g_new0(virPCIVPDResource, 1);
 
-    if (res == NULL)
-        return -1;
-
     if (!(newres->name = virXPathString("string(./name)", ctxt))) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR, "%s",
                 _("Could not read a device name from the <name> element"));