diff --git a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-device.c b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-device.c
index 6f427dfc5d..6eab7f7fa1 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-device.c
+++ b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-device.c
@@ -85,11 +85,7 @@ VirtIODevice *virtio_9p_init(DeviceState *dev, V9fsConf *conf)
     }
 
     s->ctx.export_flags = fse->export_flags;
-    if (fse->path) {
-        s->ctx.fs_root = g_strdup(fse->path);
-    } else {
-        s->ctx.fs_root = NULL;
-    }
+    s->ctx.fs_root = g_strdup(fse->path);
     s->ctx.exops.get_st_gen = NULL;
     len = strlen(conf->tag);
     if (len > MAX_TAG_LEN - 1) {
diff --git a/hw/block-common.c b/hw/block-common.c
index 0f1b64ec95..d21ec3ada1 100644
--- a/hw/block-common.c
+++ b/hw/block-common.c
@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@ void blkconf_serial(BlockConf *conf, char **serial)
     if (!*serial) {
         /* try to fall back to value set with legacy -drive serial=... */
         dinfo = drive_get_by_blockdev(conf->bs);
-        if (dinfo->serial) {
-            *serial = g_strdup(dinfo->serial);
-        }
+        *serial = g_strdup(dinfo->serial);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/net/net.c b/net/net.c
index cdd9b04989..2f0ab3a121 100644
--- a/net/net.c
+++ b/net/net.c
@@ -566,9 +566,7 @@ static int net_init_nic(const NetClientOptions *opts, const char *name,
         assert(peer);
         nd->netdev = peer;
     }
-    if (name) {
-        nd->name = g_strdup(name);
-    }
+    nd->name = g_strdup(name);
     if (nic->has_model) {
         nd->model = g_strdup(nic->model);
     }
diff --git a/slirp/slirp.c b/slirp/slirp.c
index e93b578832..0e6e232789 100644
--- a/slirp/slirp.c
+++ b/slirp/slirp.c
@@ -225,12 +225,8 @@ Slirp *slirp_init(int restricted, struct in_addr vnetwork,
         pstrcpy(slirp->client_hostname, sizeof(slirp->client_hostname),
                 vhostname);
     }
-    if (tftp_path) {
-        slirp->tftp_prefix = g_strdup(tftp_path);
-    }
-    if (bootfile) {
-        slirp->bootp_filename = g_strdup(bootfile);
-    }
+    slirp->tftp_prefix = g_strdup(tftp_path);
+    slirp->bootp_filename = g_strdup(bootfile);
     slirp->vdhcp_startaddr = vdhcp_start;
     slirp->vnameserver_addr = vnameserver;
 
diff --git a/util/qemu-option.c b/util/qemu-option.c
index f532b765a0..c12e7245ef 100644
--- a/util/qemu-option.c
+++ b/util/qemu-option.c
@@ -643,9 +643,7 @@ static void opt_set(QemuOpts *opts, const char *name, const char *value,
         QTAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&opts->head, opt, next);
     }
     opt->desc = desc;
-    if (value) {
-        opt->str = g_strdup(value);
-    }
+    opt->str = g_strdup(value);
     qemu_opt_parse(opt, &local_err);
     if (error_is_set(&local_err)) {
         error_propagate(errp, local_err);
@@ -792,9 +790,7 @@ QemuOpts *qemu_opts_create(QemuOptsList *list, const char *id,
         }
     }
     opts = g_malloc0(sizeof(*opts));
-    if (id) {
-        opts->id = g_strdup(id);
-    }
+    opts->id = g_strdup(id);
     opts->list = list;
     loc_save(&opts->loc);
     QTAILQ_INIT(&opts->head);