diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu.conf b/src/qemu/qemu.conf
index 6558e6dbfe..3979471f81 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu.conf
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu.conf
@@ -258,7 +258,8 @@
 # CA in the chardev_tls_x509_cert_dir (or default_tls_x509_cert_dir).
 #
 # If this option is not supplied, it will be set to the value of
-# "default_tls_x509_verify".
+# "default_tls_x509_verify". If "default_tls_x509_verify" is not supplied either,
+# the default is "1".
 #
 #chardev_tls_x509_verify = 1
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
index fa1619cfce..044e4f19e8 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
@@ -1253,7 +1253,7 @@ virQEMUDriverConfigSetDefaults(virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg)
     } while (0)
 
     SET_TLS_VERIFY_DEFAULT(vnc, false);
-    SET_TLS_VERIFY_DEFAULT(chardev, false);
+    SET_TLS_VERIFY_DEFAULT(chardev, true);
     SET_TLS_VERIFY_DEFAULT(migrate, false);
     SET_TLS_VERIFY_DEFAULT(backup, false);