diff --git a/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobj.c b/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobj.c
index 271cd344ff..5dba27564c 100644
--- a/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobj.c
+++ b/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobj.c
@@ -123,6 +123,27 @@ virDomainSnapshotDropParent(virDomainSnapshotObjPtr snapshot)
 }
 
 
+/* Update @snapshot to no longer have children. */
+void
+virDomainSnapshotDropChildren(virDomainSnapshotObjPtr snapshot)
+{
+    snapshot->nchildren = 0;
+    snapshot->first_child = NULL;
+}
+
+
+/* Add @snapshot to @parent's list of children. */
+void
+virDomainSnapshotSetParent(virDomainSnapshotObjPtr snapshot,
+                           virDomainSnapshotObjPtr parent)
+{
+    snapshot->parent = parent;
+    parent->nchildren++;
+    snapshot->sibling = parent->first_child;
+    parent->first_child = snapshot;
+}
+
+
 /* Take all children of @from and convert them into children of @to. */
 void
 virDomainSnapshotMoveChildren(virDomainSnapshotObjPtr from,
diff --git a/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobj.h b/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobj.h
index 22961729e8..0981ea4c25 100644
--- a/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobj.h
+++ b/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobj.h
@@ -46,7 +46,10 @@ int virDomainSnapshotForEachDescendant(virDomainSnapshotObjPtr snapshot,
                                        virHashIterator iter,
                                        void *data);
 void virDomainSnapshotDropParent(virDomainSnapshotObjPtr snapshot);
+void virDomainSnapshotDropChildren(virDomainSnapshotObjPtr snapshot);
 void virDomainSnapshotMoveChildren(virDomainSnapshotObjPtr from,
                                    virDomainSnapshotObjPtr to);
+void virDomainSnapshotSetParent(virDomainSnapshotObjPtr snapshot,
+                                virDomainSnapshotObjPtr parent);
 
 #endif /* LIBVIRT_VIRDOMAINSNAPSHOTOBJ_H */
diff --git a/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobjlist.c b/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobjlist.c
index ed3acbc913..545acd48bc 100644
--- a/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobjlist.c
+++ b/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobjlist.c
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ virDomainSnapshotObjListParse(const char *xmlStr,
                        _("incorrect flags for bulk parse"));
         return -1;
     }
-    if (snapshots->metaroot.nchildren || snapshots->current) {
+    if (virDomainSnapshotObjListSize(snapshots) != 0) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
                        _("bulk define of snapshots only possible with "
                          "no existing snapshot"));
@@ -140,9 +140,7 @@ virDomainSnapshotObjListParse(const char *xmlStr,
     if (ret < 0) {
         /* There were no snapshots before this call; so on error, just
          * blindly delete anything created before the failure. */
-        virHashRemoveAll(snapshots->objs);
-        snapshots->metaroot.nchildren = 0;
-        snapshots->metaroot.first_child = NULL;
+        virDomainSnapshotObjListRemoveAll(snapshots);
     }
     xmlXPathFreeContext(ctxt);
     xmlFreeDoc(xml);
@@ -436,6 +434,14 @@ virDomainSnapshotFindByName(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots,
 }
 
 
+/* Return the number of objects currently in the list */
+int
+virDomainSnapshotObjListSize(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots)
+{
+    return virHashSize(snapshots->objs);
+}
+
+
 /* Return the current snapshot, or NULL */
 virDomainSnapshotObjPtr
 virDomainSnapshotGetCurrent(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots)
@@ -484,6 +490,15 @@ virDomainSnapshotObjListRemove(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots,
     return ret;
 }
 
+/* Remove all snapshots tracked in the list */
+void
+virDomainSnapshotObjListRemoveAll(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots)
+{
+    virHashRemoveAll(snapshots->objs);
+    virDomainSnapshotDropChildren(&snapshots->metaroot);
+}
+
+
 int
 virDomainSnapshotForEach(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots,
                          virHashIterator iter,
@@ -511,28 +526,26 @@ virDomainSnapshotSetRelations(void *payload,
     virDomainSnapshotObjPtr obj = payload;
     struct snapshot_set_relation *curr = data;
     virDomainSnapshotObjPtr tmp;
+    virDomainSnapshotObjPtr parent;
 
-    obj->parent = virDomainSnapshotFindByName(curr->snapshots,
-                                              obj->def->parent);
-    if (!obj->parent) {
+    parent = virDomainSnapshotFindByName(curr->snapshots, obj->def->parent);
+    if (!parent) {
         curr->err = -1;
-        obj->parent = &curr->snapshots->metaroot;
+        parent = &curr->snapshots->metaroot;
         VIR_WARN("snapshot %s lacks parent", obj->def->name);
     } else {
-        tmp = obj->parent;
+        tmp = parent;
         while (tmp && tmp->def) {
             if (tmp == obj) {
                 curr->err = -1;
-                obj->parent = &curr->snapshots->metaroot;
+                parent = &curr->snapshots->metaroot;
                 VIR_WARN("snapshot %s in circular chain", obj->def->name);
                 break;
             }
             tmp = tmp->parent;
         }
     }
-    obj->parent->nchildren++;
-    obj->sibling = obj->parent->first_child;
-    obj->parent->first_child = obj;
+    virDomainSnapshotSetParent(obj, parent);
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -545,8 +558,7 @@ virDomainSnapshotUpdateRelations(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots)
 {
     struct snapshot_set_relation act = { snapshots, 0 };
 
-    snapshots->metaroot.nchildren = 0;
-    snapshots->metaroot.first_child = NULL;
+    virDomainSnapshotDropChildren(&snapshots->metaroot);
     virHashForEach(snapshots->objs, virDomainSnapshotSetRelations, &act);
     if (act.err)
         snapshots->current = NULL;
diff --git a/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobjlist.h b/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobjlist.h
index e210849441..c13a0b4026 100644
--- a/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobjlist.h
+++ b/src/conf/virdomainsnapshotobjlist.h
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ int virDomainSnapshotObjListNum(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots,
                                 unsigned int flags);
 virDomainSnapshotObjPtr virDomainSnapshotFindByName(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots,
                                                     const char *name);
+int virDomainSnapshotObjListSize(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots);
 virDomainSnapshotObjPtr virDomainSnapshotGetCurrent(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots);
 const char *virDomainSnapshotGetCurrentName(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots);
 bool virDomainSnapshotIsCurrentName(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots,
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ void virDomainSnapshotSetCurrent(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots,
                                  virDomainSnapshotObjPtr snapshot);
 bool virDomainSnapshotObjListRemove(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots,
                                     virDomainSnapshotObjPtr snapshot);
+void virDomainSnapshotObjListRemoveAll(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots);
 int virDomainSnapshotForEach(virDomainSnapshotObjListPtr snapshots,
                              virHashIterator iter,
                              void *data);
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 22f13ce64d..164f79d1af 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -980,10 +980,12 @@ virDomainObjListRename;
 
 
 # conf/virdomainsnapshotobj.h
+virDomainSnapshotDropChildren;
 virDomainSnapshotDropParent;
 virDomainSnapshotForEachChild;
 virDomainSnapshotForEachDescendant;
 virDomainSnapshotMoveChildren;
+virDomainSnapshotSetParent;
 
 
 # conf/virdomainsnapshotobjlist.h
@@ -1001,6 +1003,7 @@ virDomainSnapshotObjListNew;
 virDomainSnapshotObjListNum;
 virDomainSnapshotObjListParse;
 virDomainSnapshotObjListRemove;
+virDomainSnapshotObjListRemoveAll;
 virDomainSnapshotSetCurrent;
 virDomainSnapshotUpdateRelations;
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 511b17cc83..b4f21a85c4 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -8679,8 +8679,7 @@ qemuDomainSnapshotDiscardAllMetadata(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
     rem.err = 0;
     virDomainSnapshotForEach(vm->snapshots, qemuDomainSnapshotDiscardAll,
                              &rem);
-    if (virDomainSnapshotUpdateRelations(vm->snapshots) < 0 && !rem.err)
-        rem.err = -1;
+    virDomainSnapshotObjListRemoveAll(vm->snapshots);
 
     return rem.err;
 }
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index bc9b6d2b80..bf7a34a280 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -15926,10 +15926,7 @@ qemuDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr domain,
         } else {
             other = virDomainSnapshotFindByName(vm->snapshots,
                                                 snap->def->parent);
-            snap->parent = other;
-            other->nchildren++;
-            snap->sibling = other->first_child;
-            other->first_child = snap;
+            virDomainSnapshotSetParent(snap, other);
         }
     } else if (snap) {
         virDomainSnapshotObjListRemove(vm->snapshots, snap);
@@ -16883,8 +16880,7 @@ qemuDomainSnapshotDelete(virDomainSnapshotPtr snapshot,
     }
 
     if (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_CHILDREN_ONLY) {
-        snap->nchildren = 0;
-        snap->first_child = NULL;
+        virDomainSnapshotDropChildren(snap);
         ret = 0;
     } else {
         ret = qemuDomainSnapshotDiscard(driver, vm, snap, true, metadata_only);
diff --git a/src/test/test_driver.c b/src/test/test_driver.c
index d68a5ce1b1..a5d0bd9cc5 100644
--- a/src/test/test_driver.c
+++ b/src/test/test_driver.c
@@ -6416,10 +6416,7 @@ testDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr domain,
                 virDomainSnapshotSetCurrent(vm->snapshots, snap);
             other = virDomainSnapshotFindByName(vm->snapshots,
                                                 snap->def->parent);
-            snap->parent = other;
-            other->nchildren++;
-            snap->sibling = other->first_child;
-            other->first_child = snap;
+            virDomainSnapshotSetParent(snap, other);
         }
         virDomainObjEndAPI(&vm);
     }
@@ -6521,8 +6518,7 @@ testDomainSnapshotDelete(virDomainSnapshotPtr snapshot,
     }
 
     if (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_CHILDREN_ONLY) {
-        snap->nchildren = 0;
-        snap->first_child = NULL;
+        virDomainSnapshotDropChildren(snap);
     } else {
         virDomainSnapshotDropParent(snap);
         if (snap == virDomainSnapshotGetCurrent(vm->snapshots)) {