diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index fb8c8eda2a..69c530a920 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -1468,40 +1468,31 @@ MachineState *current_machine;
 static MachineClass *find_machine(const char *name, GSList *machines)
 {
     GSList *el;
-    MachineClass *mc = NULL;
 
     for (el = machines; el; el = el->next) {
-        MachineClass *temp = el->data;
+        MachineClass *mc = el->data;
 
-        if (!strcmp(temp->name, name)) {
-            mc = temp;
-            break;
-        }
-        if (temp->alias &&
-            !strcmp(temp->alias, name)) {
-            mc = temp;
-            break;
+        if (!strcmp(mc->name, name) || !g_strcmp0(mc->alias, name)) {
+            return mc;
         }
     }
 
-    return mc;
+    return NULL;
 }
 
 static MachineClass *find_default_machine(GSList *machines)
 {
     GSList *el;
-    MachineClass *mc = NULL;
 
     for (el = machines; el; el = el->next) {
-        MachineClass *temp = el->data;
+        MachineClass *mc = el->data;
 
-        if (temp->is_default) {
-            mc = temp;
-            break;
+        if (mc->is_default) {
+            return mc;
         }
     }
 
-    return mc;
+    return NULL;
 }
 
 MachineInfoList *qmp_query_machines(Error **errp)