diff --git a/src/util/virhostdev.c b/src/util/virhostdev.c
index f4bd19df64..d5075acab0 100644
--- a/src/util/virhostdev.c
+++ b/src/util/virhostdev.c
@@ -1236,7 +1236,7 @@ virHostdevUpdateActiveUSBDevices(virHostdevManagerPtr mgr,
 
         virUSBDeviceSetUsedBy(usb, drv_name, dom_name);
 
-        if (virUSBDeviceListAdd(mgr->activeUSBHostdevs, usb) < 0) {
+        if (virUSBDeviceListAdd(mgr->activeUSBHostdevs, &usb) < 0) {
             virUSBDeviceFree(usb);
             goto cleanup;
         }
@@ -1406,7 +1406,7 @@ virHostdevMarkUSBDevices(virHostdevManagerPtr mgr,
          * from the virUSBDeviceList that passed in on success,
          * perform rollback on failure.
          */
-        if (virUSBDeviceListAdd(mgr->activeUSBHostdevs, usb) < 0)
+        if (virUSBDeviceListAdd(mgr->activeUSBHostdevs, &usb) < 0)
             goto error;
     }
 
@@ -1555,7 +1555,7 @@ virHostdevPrepareUSBDevices(virHostdevManagerPtr mgr,
         if (virHostdevFindUSBDevice(hostdev, required, &usb) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
 
-        if (usb && virUSBDeviceListAdd(list, usb) < 0) {
+        if (usb && virUSBDeviceListAdd(list, &usb) < 0) {
             virUSBDeviceFree(usb);
             goto cleanup;
         }
diff --git a/src/util/virusb.c b/src/util/virusb.c
index 2fe1bfc290..78182320ed 100644
--- a/src/util/virusb.c
+++ b/src/util/virusb.c
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ virUSBDeviceSearch(unsigned int vendor,
         if (!usb)
             goto cleanup;
 
-        if (virUSBDeviceListAdd(list, usb) < 0) {
+        if (virUSBDeviceListAdd(list, &usb) < 0) {
             virUSBDeviceFree(usb);
             goto cleanup;
         }
@@ -463,15 +463,15 @@ virUSBDeviceListDispose(void *obj)
 
 int
 virUSBDeviceListAdd(virUSBDeviceListPtr list,
-                    virUSBDevicePtr dev)
+                    virUSBDevicePtr *dev)
 {
-    if (virUSBDeviceListFind(list, dev)) {
+    if (virUSBDeviceListFind(list, *dev)) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
                        _("Device %s is already in use"),
-                       dev->name);
+                       (*dev)->name);
         return -1;
     }
-    return VIR_APPEND_ELEMENT(list->devs, list->count, dev);
+    return VIR_APPEND_ELEMENT(list->devs, list->count, *dev);
 }
 
 virUSBDevicePtr
diff --git a/src/util/virusb.h b/src/util/virusb.h
index 716e8c6915..078dee69cd 100644
--- a/src/util/virusb.h
+++ b/src/util/virusb.h
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ int virUSBDeviceFileIterate(virUSBDevicePtr dev,
 
 virUSBDeviceListPtr virUSBDeviceListNew(void);
 int virUSBDeviceListAdd(virUSBDeviceListPtr list,
-                        virUSBDevicePtr dev);
+                        virUSBDevicePtr *dev);
 virUSBDevicePtr virUSBDeviceListGet(virUSBDeviceListPtr list,
                                     int idx);
 size_t virUSBDeviceListCount(virUSBDeviceListPtr list);
diff --git a/tests/virusbtest.c b/tests/virusbtest.c
index 8728fe9092..05bba2b9ba 100644
--- a/tests/virusbtest.c
+++ b/tests/virusbtest.c
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ testUSBList(const void *opaque ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
         dev = virUSBDeviceListGet(devlist, 0);
         dev = virUSBDeviceListSteal(devlist, dev);
 
-        if (virUSBDeviceListAdd(list, dev) < 0)
+        if (virUSBDeviceListAdd(list, &dev) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
         dev = NULL;
     }
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ testUSBList(const void *opaque ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
         dev = virUSBDeviceListGet(devlist, 0);
         dev = virUSBDeviceListSteal(devlist, dev);
 
-        if (virUSBDeviceListAdd(list, dev) < 0)
+        if (virUSBDeviceListAdd(list, &dev) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
         dev = NULL;
     }