diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index efb85febcc..d0d040a76b 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -4573,8 +4573,29 @@ virDomainDefValidateDeviceIterator(virDomainDefPtr def,
 
 
 static int
-virDomainDefValidateInternal(const virDomainDef *def ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
+virDomainDefCheckDuplicateDiskInfo(const virDomainDef *def)
 {
+    size_t i;
+    size_t j;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < def->ndisks; i++) {
+        for (j = i + 1; j < def->ndisks; j++) {
+            if (virDomainDiskDefCheckDuplicateInfo(def->disks[i],
+                                                   def->disks[j]) < 0)
+                return -1;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
+static int
+virDomainDefValidateInternal(const virDomainDef *def)
+{
+    if (virDomainDefCheckDuplicateDiskInfo(def) < 0)
+        return -1;
+
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -24583,8 +24604,8 @@ virDomainDefNeedsPlacementAdvice(virDomainDefPtr def)
 
 
 int
-virDomainDiskDefCheckDuplicateInfo(virDomainDiskDefPtr a,
-                                   virDomainDiskDefPtr b)
+virDomainDiskDefCheckDuplicateInfo(const virDomainDiskDef *a,
+                                   const virDomainDiskDef *b)
 {
     if (STREQ(a->dst, b->dst)) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
@@ -24613,24 +24634,6 @@ virDomainDiskDefCheckDuplicateInfo(virDomainDiskDefPtr a,
 }
 
 
-int
-virDomainDefCheckDuplicateDiskInfo(virDomainDefPtr def)
-{
-    size_t i;
-    size_t j;
-
-    for (i = 0; i < def->ndisks; i++) {
-        for (j = i + 1; j < def->ndisks; j++) {
-            if (virDomainDiskDefCheckDuplicateInfo(def->disks[i],
-                                                   def->disks[j]) < 0)
-                return -1;
-        }
-    }
-
-    return 0;
-}
-
-
 /**
  * virDomainDefHasMemballoon:
  * @def: domain definition
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index d62d99bf2f..8938ceef9f 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -3067,11 +3067,9 @@ virDomainParseMemory(const char *xpath,
 bool virDomainDefNeedsPlacementAdvice(virDomainDefPtr def)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1);
 
-int virDomainDiskDefCheckDuplicateInfo(virDomainDiskDefPtr a,
-                                       virDomainDiskDefPtr b)
+int virDomainDiskDefCheckDuplicateInfo(const virDomainDiskDef *a,
+                                       const virDomainDiskDef *b)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(2);
-int virDomainDefCheckDuplicateDiskInfo(virDomainDefPtr def)
-    ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1);
 
 int virDomainDefGetVcpuPinInfoHelper(virDomainDefPtr def,
                                      int maplen,
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 8f664ef60f..3fd042b8f1 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -207,7 +207,6 @@ virDomainDefAddController;
 virDomainDefAddImplicitDevices;
 virDomainDefAddUSBController;
 virDomainDefCheckABIStability;
-virDomainDefCheckDuplicateDiskInfo;
 virDomainDefClearCCWAddresses;
 virDomainDefClearDeviceAliases;
 virDomainDefClearPCIAddresses;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index c1f71dd212..799a37e3ea 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -4303,14 +4303,9 @@ qemuProcessStartValidateXML(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
     /* checks below should not be executed when starting a qemu process for a
      * VM that was running before (migration, snapshots, save). It's more
      * important to start such VM than keep the configuration clean */
-    if ((flags & VIR_QEMU_PROCESS_START_NEW)) {
-        if (virDomainDefValidate(vm->def, caps, 0, driver->xmlopt) < 0)
-            return -1;
-
-        if (virDomainDefCheckDuplicateDiskInfo(vm->def) < 0)
-            return -1;
-    }
-
+    if ((flags & VIR_QEMU_PROCESS_START_NEW) &&
+        virDomainDefValidate(vm->def, caps, 0, driver->xmlopt) < 0)
+        return -1;
 
     if (vm->def->mem.min_guarantee) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index b2cde8e542..f009d09b9f 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -876,9 +876,9 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST("disk-drive-discard",
             QEMU_CAPS_DRIVE_DISCARD);
     DO_TEST("disk-snapshot", NONE);
-    DO_TEST_FAILURE("disk-same-targets",
-                    QEMU_CAPS_SCSI_LSI,
-                    QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_USB_STORAGE, QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG);
+    DO_TEST_PARSE_ERROR("disk-same-targets",
+                        QEMU_CAPS_SCSI_LSI,
+                        QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_USB_STORAGE, QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG);
     DO_TEST("event_idx",
             QEMU_CAPS_VIRTIO_BLK_EVENT_IDX,
             QEMU_CAPS_VIRTIO_NET_EVENT_IDX,