diff --git a/hw/riscv/boot.c b/hw/riscv/boot.c
index 2e92fb0680..7fee98d2f8 100644
--- a/hw/riscv/boot.c
+++ b/hw/riscv/boot.c
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ void riscv_find_and_load_firmware(MachineState *machine,
                                   const char *default_machine_firmware,
                                   hwaddr firmware_load_addr)
 {
-    char *firmware_filename;
+    char *firmware_filename = NULL;
 
     if (!machine->firmware) {
         /*
@@ -70,14 +70,11 @@ void riscv_find_and_load_firmware(MachineState *machine,
          * if no -bios option is set without breaking anything.
          */
         firmware_filename = riscv_find_firmware(default_machine_firmware);
-    } else {
-        firmware_filename = machine->firmware;
-        if (strcmp(firmware_filename, "none")) {
-            firmware_filename = riscv_find_firmware(firmware_filename);
-        }
+    } else if (strcmp(machine->firmware, "none")) {
+        firmware_filename = riscv_find_firmware(machine->firmware);
     }
 
-    if (strcmp(firmware_filename, "none")) {
+    if (firmware_filename) {
         /* If not "none" load the firmware */
         riscv_load_firmware(firmware_filename, firmware_load_addr);
         g_free(firmware_filename);