diff --git a/cutils.c b/cutils.c
index 6db6304bb4..24b3fe355b 100644
--- a/cutils.c
+++ b/cutils.c
@@ -217,7 +217,10 @@ void qemu_iovec_destroy(QEMUIOVector *qiov)
 {
     assert(qiov->nalloc != -1);
 
+    qemu_iovec_reset(qiov);
     g_free(qiov->iov);
+    qiov->nalloc = 0;
+    qiov->iov = NULL;
 }
 
 void qemu_iovec_reset(QEMUIOVector *qiov)