diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index ca4d4c1a40..073001607e 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -2701,7 +2701,7 @@ virQEMUCapsProbeQMPMachineTypes(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
 }
 
 
-static bool
+bool
 virQEMUCapsIsMachineSupported(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
                               virDomainVirtType virtType,
                               const char *canonical_machine)
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
index ca7612ebfc..56af9e9a0e 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
@@ -631,6 +631,10 @@ bool virQEMUCapsIsCPUModeSupported(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
 const char *virQEMUCapsGetCanonicalMachine(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
                                            virDomainVirtType virtType,
                                            const char *name);
+bool virQEMUCapsIsMachineSupported(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
+                                   virDomainVirtType virtType,
+                                   const char *canonical_machine)
+    ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(3);
 int virQEMUCapsGetMachineMaxCpus(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
                                  virDomainVirtType virtType,
                                  const char *name);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 50b116445a..3005790225 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -5727,6 +5727,14 @@ qemuDomainDefValidate(const virDomainDef *def,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
+    if (qemuCaps &&
+        !virQEMUCapsIsMachineSupported(qemuCaps, def->virtType, def->os.machine)) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
+                       _("Emulator '%s' does not support machine type '%s'"),
+                       def->emulator, def->os.machine);
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     if (def->mem.min_guarantee) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
                        _("Parameter 'min_guarantee' not supported by QEMU."));