diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 655449c7f6..30c27db1f0 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -8218,6 +8218,13 @@ int virDomainDiskDefForeachPath(virDomainDiskDefPtr disk,
         depth++;
         nextpath = meta.backingStore;
 
+        /* Stop iterating if we reach a non-file backing store */
+        if (nextpath && !meta.backingStoreIsFile) {
+            VIR_DEBUG("Stopping iteration on non-file backing store: %s",
+                      nextpath);
+            break;
+        }
+
         format = meta.backingStoreFormat;
 
         if (format == VIR_STORAGE_FILE_AUTO &&
diff --git a/src/util/storage_file.c b/src/util/storage_file.c
index 403b0c0892..f1a445a56d 100644
--- a/src/util/storage_file.c
+++ b/src/util/storage_file.c
@@ -503,6 +503,14 @@ virStorageFileMatchesVersion(int format,
     return true;
 }
 
+static bool
+virBackingStoreIsFile(const char *backing)
+{
+    /* Backing store is a network block device */
+    if (STRPREFIX(backing, "nbd:"))
+        return false;
+    return true;
+}
 
 static int
 virStorageFileGetMetadataFromBuf(int format,
@@ -573,8 +581,14 @@ virStorageFileGetMetadataFromBuf(int format,
         if (ret == BACKING_STORE_ERROR)
             return -1;
 
+        meta->backingStoreIsFile = false;
         if (backing != NULL) {
-            meta->backingStore = absolutePathFromBaseFile(path, backing);
+            if (virBackingStoreIsFile(backing)) {
+                meta->backingStoreIsFile = true;
+                meta->backingStore = absolutePathFromBaseFile(path, backing);
+            } else {
+                meta->backingStore = strdup(backing);
+            }
             VIR_FREE(backing);
             if (meta->backingStore == NULL) {
                 virReportOOMError();
diff --git a/src/util/storage_file.h b/src/util/storage_file.h
index ba44111d99..34ece6d8ef 100644
--- a/src/util/storage_file.h
+++ b/src/util/storage_file.h
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ VIR_ENUM_DECL(virStorageFileFormat);
 typedef struct _virStorageFileMetadata {
     char *backingStore;
     int backingStoreFormat;
+    bool backingStoreIsFile;
     unsigned long long capacity;
     bool encrypted;
 } virStorageFileMetadata;