diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index b185fe79af..01bd56b5e1 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -13561,7 +13561,8 @@ char *virDomainSnapshotDefFormat(const char *domain_uuid,
     virBuffer buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
     int i;
 
-    virCheckFlags(VIR_DOMAIN_XML_SECURE, NULL);
+    virCheckFlags(VIR_DOMAIN_XML_SECURE |
+                  VIR_DOMAIN_XML_UPDATE_CPU, NULL);
 
     flags |= VIR_DOMAIN_XML_INACTIVE;
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 2fed91ed6b..f8b7c96532 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@
 
 #define QEMU_NAMESPACE_HREF "http://libvirt.org/schemas/domain/qemu/1.0"
 
+#define QEMU_DOMAIN_FORMAT_LIVE_FLAGS       \
+    (VIR_DOMAIN_XML_SECURE |                \
+     VIR_DOMAIN_XML_UPDATE_CPU)
+
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(qemuDomainJob)
 VIR_ENUM_IMPL(qemuDomainJob, QEMU_JOB_LAST,
               "none",
@@ -1192,6 +1196,19 @@ char *qemuDomainFormatXML(struct qemud_driver *driver,
     return qemuDomainDefFormatXML(driver, def, flags);
 }
 
+char *
+qemuDomainDefFormatLive(struct qemud_driver *driver,
+                        virDomainDefPtr def,
+                        bool inactive)
+{
+    unsigned int flags = QEMU_DOMAIN_FORMAT_LIVE_FLAGS;
+
+    if (inactive)
+        flags |= VIR_DOMAIN_XML_INACTIVE;
+
+    return qemuDomainDefFormatXML(driver, def, flags);
+}
+
 
 void qemuDomainObjTaint(struct qemud_driver *driver,
                         virDomainObjPtr obj,
@@ -1436,11 +1453,9 @@ qemuDomainSnapshotWriteMetadata(virDomainObjPtr vm,
 
     virUUIDFormat(vm->def->uuid, uuidstr);
     newxml = virDomainSnapshotDefFormat(uuidstr, snapshot->def,
-                                        VIR_DOMAIN_XML_SECURE, 1);
-    if (newxml == NULL) {
-        virReportOOMError();
+                                        QEMU_DOMAIN_FORMAT_LIVE_FLAGS, 1);
+    if (newxml == NULL)
         return -1;
-    }
 
     if (virAsprintf(&snapDir, "%s/%s", snapshotDir, vm->def->name) < 0) {
         virReportOOMError();
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
index 1333d8cd7c..f8e943f70d 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
@@ -232,6 +232,10 @@ char *qemuDomainFormatXML(struct qemud_driver *driver,
                           virDomainObjPtr vm,
                           unsigned int flags);
 
+char *qemuDomainDefFormatLive(struct qemud_driver *driver,
+                              virDomainDefPtr def,
+                              bool inactive);
+
 void qemuDomainObjTaint(struct qemud_driver *driver,
                         virDomainObjPtr obj,
                         enum virDomainTaintFlags taint,
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 3147a9bf64..e0db63935f 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -2587,11 +2587,9 @@ qemuDomainSaveInternal(struct qemud_driver *driver, virDomainPtr dom,
             virDomainDefFree(def);
             goto endjob;
         }
-        xml = virDomainDefFormat(def, (VIR_DOMAIN_XML_INACTIVE |
-                                       VIR_DOMAIN_XML_SECURE));
+        xml = qemuDomainDefFormatLive(driver, def, true);
     } else {
-        xml = virDomainDefFormat(vm->def, (VIR_DOMAIN_XML_INACTIVE |
-                                           VIR_DOMAIN_XML_SECURE));
+        xml = qemuDomainDefFormatLive(driver, vm->def, true);
     }
     if (!xml) {
         qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_FAILED,
@@ -10173,8 +10171,7 @@ qemuDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr domain,
     } else {
         /* Easiest way to clone inactive portion of vm->def is via
          * conversion in and back out of xml.  */
-        if (!(xml = virDomainDefFormat(vm->def, (VIR_DOMAIN_XML_INACTIVE |
-                                                 VIR_DOMAIN_XML_SECURE))) ||
+        if (!(xml = qemuDomainDefFormatLive(driver, vm->def, true)) ||
             !(def->dom = virDomainDefParseString(driver->caps, xml,
                                                  QEMU_EXPECTED_VIRT_TYPES,
                                                  VIR_DOMAIN_XML_INACTIVE)))
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_migration.c b/src/qemu/qemu_migration.c
index 92d046a3b0..81b2d5b9e8 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_migration.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_migration.c
@@ -1092,13 +1092,9 @@ char *qemuMigrationBegin(struct qemud_driver *driver,
         if (!virDomainDefCheckABIStability(vm->def, def))
             goto cleanup;
 
-        rv = qemuDomainDefFormatXML(driver, def,
-                                    VIR_DOMAIN_XML_SECURE |
-                                    VIR_DOMAIN_XML_UPDATE_CPU);
+        rv = qemuDomainDefFormatLive(driver, def, false);
     } else {
-        rv = qemuDomainFormatXML(driver, vm,
-                                 VIR_DOMAIN_XML_SECURE |
-                                 VIR_DOMAIN_XML_UPDATE_CPU);
+        rv = qemuDomainDefFormatLive(driver, vm->def, false);
     }
 
 cleanup: