diff --git a/include/libvirt/libvirt-network.h b/include/libvirt/libvirt-network.h
index be9d6eb2cb..0a49c1888e 100644
--- a/include/libvirt/libvirt-network.h
+++ b/include/libvirt/libvirt-network.h
@@ -119,6 +119,10 @@ virNetworkPtr           virNetworkLookupByUUIDString    (virConnectPtr conn,
 virNetworkPtr           virNetworkCreateXML     (virConnectPtr conn,
                                                  const char *xmlDesc);
 
+typedef enum {
+    VIR_NETWORK_DEFINE_VALIDATE = 1 << 0, /* Validate the XML document against schema */
+} virNetworkDefineFlags;
+
 /*
  * Define inactive persistent network
  */
diff --git a/src/libvirt-network.c b/src/libvirt-network.c
index b633f49ca9..c9d0e9d25b 100644
--- a/src/libvirt-network.c
+++ b/src/libvirt-network.c
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ virNetworkDefineXML(virConnectPtr conn, const char *xml)
  * virNetworkDefineXMLFlags:
  * @conn: pointer to the hypervisor connection
  * @xml: the XML description for the network, preferably in UTF-8
- * @flags: extra flags; not used yet, so callers should always pass 0
+ * @flags: bitwise-OR of virNetworkDefineFlags
  *
  * Define an inactive persistent virtual network or modify an existing
  * persistent one from the XML description.