diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
index 17a6eb3422..d57ffdaeb5 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ virQEMUDriverConfigPtr virQEMUDriverConfigNew(bool privileged,
 
     if (root) {
         cfg->uri = g_strdup_printf("qemu:///embed?root=%s", root);
+        cfg->root = g_strdup(root);
     } else {
         cfg->uri = g_strdup(privileged ? "qemu:///system" : "qemu:///session");
     }
@@ -299,6 +300,7 @@ static void virQEMUDriverConfigDispose(void *obj)
 
     virStringListFree(cfg->cgroupDeviceACL);
     VIR_FREE(cfg->uri);
+    VIR_FREE(cfg->root);
 
     VIR_FREE(cfg->configBaseDir);
     VIR_FREE(cfg->configDir);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
index 3ce9566b71..82fea63fbc 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@ struct _virQEMUDriverConfig {
     virObject parent;
 
     char *uri;
+    char *root; /* The root directory for embed driver,
+                   NULL for system/session connections */
 
     uid_t user;
     gid_t group;