diff --git a/rust/qemu-api/src/assertions.rs b/rust/qemu-api/src/assertions.rs
index bba38cfda1..eb12e9499a 100644
--- a/rust/qemu-api/src/assertions.rs
+++ b/rust/qemu-api/src/assertions.rs
@@ -91,6 +91,21 @@ macro_rules! assert_field_type {
             }
         };
     };
+
+    ($t:ty, $i:tt, $ti:ty, num = $num:ident) => {
+        const _: () = {
+            #[allow(unused)]
+            fn assert_field_type(v: $t) {
+                fn types_must_be_equal<T, U>(_: T)
+                where
+                    T: $crate::assertions::EqType<Itself = U>,
+                {
+                }
+                let index: usize = v.$num.try_into().unwrap();
+                types_must_be_equal::<_, &$ti>(&v.$i[index]);
+            }
+        };
+    };
 }
 
 /// Assert that an expression matches a pattern.  This can also be
diff --git a/rust/qemu-api/src/vmstate.rs b/rust/qemu-api/src/vmstate.rs
index e2a1f7a97a..9d9cdda993 100644
--- a/rust/qemu-api/src/vmstate.rs
+++ b/rust/qemu-api/src/vmstate.rs
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ macro_rules! vmstate_struct {
                 .as_ptr() as *const ::std::os::raw::c_char,
             $(num_offset: $crate::offset_of!($struct_name, $num),)?
             offset: {
-                $crate::assert_field_type!($struct_name, $field_name, $type);
+                $crate::assert_field_type!($struct_name, $field_name, $type $(, num = $num)?);
                 $crate::offset_of!($struct_name, $field_name)
             },
             size: ::core::mem::size_of::<$type>(),