diff --git a/src/lxc/confile.c b/src/lxc/confile.c
index 1185d7df61..c81ba45be9 100644
--- a/src/lxc/confile.c
+++ b/src/lxc/confile.c
@@ -971,7 +971,7 @@ static int config_network_ipv6_gateway(const char *key, const char *value,
 	free(netdev->ipv6_gateway);
 
 	if (!value || strlen(value) == 0) {
-		netdev->ipv4_gateway = NULL;
+		netdev->ipv6_gateway = NULL;
 	} else if (!strcmp(value, "auto")) {
 		netdev->ipv6_gateway = NULL;
 		netdev->ipv6_gateway_auto = true;