diff --git a/qemu/qapi/qobject-input-visitor.c b/qemu/qapi/qobject-input-visitor.c
index aeb2892e..e7085842 100644
--- a/qemu/qapi/qobject-input-visitor.c
+++ b/qemu/qapi/qobject-input-visitor.c
@@ -121,10 +121,15 @@ static QObject *qobject_input_try_get_object(QObjectInputVisitor *qiv,
     } else {
         assert(qobject_type(qobj) == QTYPE_QLIST);
         assert(!name);
-        ret = qlist_entry_obj(tos->entry);
-        assert(ret);
+        if (tos->entry) {
+            ret = qlist_entry_obj(tos->entry);
+            if (consume) {
+                tos->entry = qlist_next(tos->entry);
+            }
+        } else {
+            ret = NULL;
+        }
         if (consume) {
-            tos->entry = qlist_next(tos->entry);
             tos->index++;
         }
     }