diff --git a/src/conf/network_conf.c b/src/conf/network_conf.c
index 2c3a11fb10..52b9f0e311 100644
--- a/src/conf/network_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/network_conf.c
@@ -2434,8 +2434,8 @@ virNetworkDefFormatBuf(virBufferPtr buf,
     bool hasbridge = false;
 
     virBufferAddLit(buf, "<network");
-    if (def->namespaceData && def->ns.href)
-        virBufferAsprintf(buf, " %s", (def->ns.href)());
+    if (def->namespaceData && def->ns.format)
+        virXMLNamespaceFormatNS(buf, &def->ns);
     if (!(flags & VIR_NETWORK_XML_INACTIVE) && (def->connections > 0))
         virBufferAsprintf(buf, " connections='%d'", def->connections);
     if (def->ipv6nogw)
diff --git a/src/network/bridge_driver.c b/src/network/bridge_driver.c
index b0ada0132a..a3f7ae337a 100644
--- a/src/network/bridge_driver.c
+++ b/src/network/bridge_driver.c
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ networkDnsmasqDefNamespaceFormatXML(virBufferPtr buf,
 static const char *
 networkDnsmasqDefNamespaceHref(void)
 {
-    return "xmlns:dnsmasq='" DNSMASQ_NAMESPACE_HREF "'";
+    return DNSMASQ_NAMESPACE_HREF;
 }