diff --git a/src/util/virperf.c b/src/util/virperf.c
index 2c832b34eb..4537cd0ec4 100644
--- a/src/util/virperf.c
+++ b/src/util/virperf.c
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 #endif
 
 #include "virperf.h"
-#include "viralloc.h"
 #include "virerror.h"
 #include "virlog.h"
 #include "virfile.h"
@@ -61,7 +60,7 @@ struct virPerfEvent {
 };
 typedef struct virPerfEvent *virPerfEventPtr;
 
-struct virPerf {
+struct _virPerf {
     struct virPerfEvent events[VIR_PERF_EVENT_LAST];
 };
 
diff --git a/src/util/virperf.h b/src/util/virperf.h
index eee7a03d27..9d0d5acec7 100644
--- a/src/util/virperf.h
+++ b/src/util/virperf.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 # define __VIR_PERF_H__
 
 # include "virutil.h"
+# include "viralloc.h"
 
 /* Some Intel processor families introduced some RDT (Resource Director
  * Technology) features to monitor or control shared resource based on
@@ -62,8 +63,9 @@ typedef enum {
 
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(virPerfEvent);
 
-struct virPerf;
-typedef struct virPerf *virPerfPtr;
+struct _virPerf;
+typedef struct _virPerf virPerf;
+typedef virPerf *virPerfPtr;
 
 virPerfPtr virPerfNew(void);
 
@@ -83,4 +85,6 @@ int virPerfReadEvent(virPerfPtr perf,
                      virPerfEventType type,
                      uint64_t *value);
 
+VIR_DEFINE_AUTOPTR_FUNC(virPerf, virPerfFree)
+
 #endif /* __VIR_PERF_H__ */