diff --git a/plugins/vli/fu-vli-usbhub-msp430-device.c b/plugins/vli/fu-vli-usbhub-msp430-device.c
index 47f4e2a69..89b317fb2 100644
--- a/plugins/vli/fu-vli-usbhub-msp430-device.c
+++ b/plugins/vli/fu-vli-usbhub-msp430-device.c
@@ -308,6 +308,7 @@ fu_vli_usbhub_msp430_device_probe (FuDevice *device, GError **error)
 	g_autofree gchar *instance_id = NULL;
 
 	fu_device_set_name (device, fu_vli_common_device_kind_to_string (device_kind));
+	fu_device_set_physical_id (device, fu_device_get_physical_id (FU_DEVICE (parent)));
 
 	/* add instance ID */
 	instance_id = g_strdup_printf ("USB\\VID_%04X&PID_%04X&I2C_%s",
diff --git a/plugins/vli/fu-vli-usbhub-rtd21xx-device.c b/plugins/vli/fu-vli-usbhub-rtd21xx-device.c
index 57e3b1e57..5d197782a 100644
--- a/plugins/vli/fu-vli-usbhub-rtd21xx-device.c
+++ b/plugins/vli/fu-vli-usbhub-rtd21xx-device.c
@@ -480,6 +480,7 @@ fu_vli_usbhub_rtd21xx_device_probe (FuDevice *device, GError **error)
 	g_autofree gchar *instance_id = NULL;
 
 	fu_device_set_name (device, fu_vli_common_device_kind_to_string (device_kind));
+	fu_device_set_physical_id (device, fu_device_get_physical_id (FU_DEVICE (parent)));
 
 	/* add instance ID */
 	instance_id = g_strdup_printf ("USB\\VID_%04X&PID_%04X&I2C_%s",