diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index b30acc836c..1632dc0859 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -893,7 +893,6 @@ void virDomainHostdevDefFree(virDomainHostdevDefPtr def)
     if (!def)
         return;
 
-    VIR_FREE(def->target);
     virDomainDeviceInfoClear(&def->info);
     VIR_FREE(def);
 }
@@ -4774,7 +4773,6 @@ virDomainHostdevDefParseXML(const xmlNodePtr node,
         virReportOOMError();
         return NULL;
     }
-    def->target = NULL;
 
     mode = virXMLPropString(node, "mode");
     if (mode) {
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index 8c94d4db4d..8ea1ca4de6 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -792,7 +792,6 @@ struct _virDomainHostdevDef {
             int dummy;
         } caps;
     } source;
-    char* target;
     int bootIndex;
     virDomainDeviceInfo info; /* Guest address */
 };