diff --git a/src/vmx/vmx.c b/src/vmx/vmx.c
index f4182bc518..d90b41d2ad 100644
--- a/src/vmx/vmx.c
+++ b/src/vmx/vmx.c
@@ -2901,7 +2901,7 @@ virVMXParseEthernet(virConf *conf, int controller, virDomainNetDef **def)
                                 portId_name,
                                 &(*def)->data.vds.port_id,
                                 0,
-                                false) < 0 ||
+                                true) < 0 ||
             virVMXGetConfigLong(conf,
                                 connectionId_name,
                                 &(*def)->data.vds.connection_id,
diff --git a/tests/vmx2xmldata/ethernet-vds-no-portid.vmx b/tests/vmx2xmldata/ethernet-vds-no-portid.vmx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7761accb3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/vmx2xmldata/ethernet-vds-no-portid.vmx
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+config.version = "8"
+virtualHW.version = "4"
+ethernet0.present = "true"
+ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000e"
+ethernet0.addressType = "vpx"
+ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:50:56:87:65:43"
+ethernet0.dvs.switchId = "50 34 26 b2 94 e9 3b 16-1d 68 87 bf ff 4a 54 40"
+ethernet0.dvs.portgroupId = "dvportgroup-1285"
+ethernet0.dvs.connectionId = "408217997"
+displayName = "test"
diff --git a/tests/vmx2xmldata/ethernet-vds-no-portid.xml b/tests/vmx2xmldata/ethernet-vds-no-portid.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..60fd9c99fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/vmx2xmldata/ethernet-vds-no-portid.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<domain type='vmware'>
+  <name>test</name>
+  <uuid>00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>32768</memory>
+  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>32768</currentMemory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='i686'>hvm</type>
+  </os>
+  <clock offset='utc'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <interface type='vds'>
+      <mac address='00:50:56:87:65:43' type='generated'/>
+      <source switchid='503426b2-94e9-3b16-1d68-87bfff4a5440' portid='0' portgroupid='dvportgroup-1285' connectionid='408217997'/>
+      <model type='e1000e'/>
+    </interface>
+    <video>
+      <model type='vmvga' vram='4096' primary='yes'/>
+    </video>
+  </devices>
+</domain>