diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 40c385e181..01505cbf3d 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -5002,6 +5002,27 @@ virDomainDiskSourceParse(xmlNodePtr node,
             goto cleanup;
         }
 
+        /* for historical reasons the volume name for gluster volume is stored
+         * as a part of the path. This is hard to work with when dealing with
+         * relative names. Split out the volume into a separate variable */
+        if (src->path && src->protocol == VIR_STORAGE_NET_PROTOCOL_GLUSTER) {
+            char *tmp;
+            if (!(tmp = strchr(src->path, '/')) ||
+                tmp == src->path) {
+                virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
+                               _("missing volume name or file name in "
+                                 "gluster source path '%s'"), src->path);
+                goto cleanup;
+            }
+
+            src->volume = src->path;
+
+            if (VIR_STRDUP(src->path, tmp) < 0)
+                goto cleanup;
+
+            tmp[0] = '\0';
+        }
+
         child = node->children;
         while (child != NULL) {
             if (child->type == XML_ELEMENT_NODE &&
@@ -14841,6 +14862,7 @@ virDomainDiskSourceFormat(virBufferPtr buf,
                           unsigned int flags)
 {
     size_t n;
+    char *path = NULL;
     const char *startupPolicy = NULL;
 
     if (policy)
@@ -14876,7 +14898,16 @@ virDomainDiskSourceFormat(virBufferPtr buf,
         case VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_NETWORK:
             virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<source protocol='%s'",
                               virStorageNetProtocolTypeToString(src->protocol));
-            virBufferEscapeString(buf, " name='%s'", src->path);
+
+
+            if (src->volume) {
+                if (virAsprintf(&path, "%s%s", src->volume, src->path) < 0)
+                    return -1;
+            }
+
+            virBufferEscapeString(buf, " name='%s'", path ? path : src->path);
+
+            VIR_FREE(path);
 
             if (src->nhosts == 0) {
                 virBufferAddLit(buf, "/>\n");
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 193959f5d1..31d078199c 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -3058,6 +3058,7 @@ qemuNetworkDriveGetPort(int protocol,
 static char *
 qemuBuildNetworkDriveURI(int protocol,
                          const char *src,
+                         const char *volume,
                          size_t nhosts,
                          virStorageNetHostDefPtr hosts,
                          const char *username,
@@ -3157,11 +3158,18 @@ qemuBuildNetworkDriveURI(int protocol,
             if ((uri->port = qemuNetworkDriveGetPort(protocol, hosts->port)) < 0)
                 goto cleanup;
 
-            if (src &&
-                virAsprintf(&uri->path, "%s%s",
-                            src[0] == '/' ? "" : "/",
-                            src) < 0)
-                goto cleanup;
+            if (src) {
+                if (volume) {
+                    if (virAsprintf(&uri->path, "/%s%s",
+                                    volume, src) < 0)
+                        goto cleanup;
+                } else {
+                    if (virAsprintf(&uri->path, "%s%s",
+                                    src[0] == '/' ? "" : "/",
+                                    src) < 0)
+                        goto cleanup;
+                }
+            }
 
             if (hosts->socket &&
                 virAsprintf(&uri->query, "socket=%s", hosts->socket) < 0)
@@ -3323,6 +3331,7 @@ qemuGetDriveSourceString(virStorageSourcePtr src,
     case VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_NETWORK:
         if (!(*source = qemuBuildNetworkDriveURI(src->protocol,
                                                  src->path,
+                                                 src->volume,
                                                  src->nhosts,
                                                  src->hosts,
                                                  username,
diff --git a/src/storage/storage_backend_gluster.c b/src/storage/storage_backend_gluster.c
index 2f0592f76e..8679d968f8 100644
--- a/src/storage/storage_backend_gluster.c
+++ b/src/storage/storage_backend_gluster.c
@@ -533,8 +533,6 @@ typedef virStorageFileBackendGlusterPriv *virStorageFileBackendGlusterPrivPtr;
 
 struct _virStorageFileBackendGlusterPriv {
     glfs_t *vol;
-    char *volname;
-    char *path;
 };
 
 
@@ -547,7 +545,6 @@ virStorageFileBackendGlusterDeinit(virStorageSourcePtr src)
 
     if (priv->vol)
         glfs_fini(priv->vol);
-    VIR_FREE(priv->volname);
 
     VIR_FREE(priv);
     src->drv->priv = NULL;
@@ -564,21 +561,14 @@ virStorageFileBackendGlusterInit(virStorageSourcePtr src)
     VIR_DEBUG("initializing gluster storage file %p(%s/%s)",
               src, hostname, src->path);
 
-    if (VIR_ALLOC(priv) < 0)
-        return -1;
-
-    if (VIR_STRDUP(priv->volname, src->path) < 0)
-        goto error;
-
-    if (!(priv->path = strchr(priv->volname, '/'))) {
+    if (!src->volume) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
-                       _("invalid path of gluster volume: '%s'"),
-                       src->path);
-        goto error;
+                       _("missing gluster volume name for path '%s'"), src->path);
+        return -1;
     }
 
-    *priv->path = '\0';
-    priv->path++;
+    if (VIR_ALLOC(priv) < 0)
+        return -1;
 
     if (host->port &&
         virStrToLong_i(host->port, NULL, 10, &port) < 0) {
@@ -591,7 +581,7 @@ virStorageFileBackendGlusterInit(virStorageSourcePtr src)
     if (host->transport == VIR_STORAGE_NET_HOST_TRANS_UNIX)
         hostname = host->socket;
 
-    if (!(priv->vol = glfs_new(priv->volname))) {
+    if (!(priv->vol = glfs_new(src->volume))) {
         virReportOOMError();
         goto error;
     }
@@ -617,7 +607,6 @@ virStorageFileBackendGlusterInit(virStorageSourcePtr src)
     return 0;
 
  error:
-    VIR_FREE(priv->volname);
     if (priv->vol)
         glfs_fini(priv->vol);
     VIR_FREE(priv);
@@ -632,7 +621,7 @@ virStorageFileBackendGlusterUnlink(virStorageSourcePtr src)
     virStorageFileBackendGlusterPrivPtr priv = src->drv->priv;
     int ret;
 
-    ret = glfs_unlink(priv->vol, priv->path);
+    ret = glfs_unlink(priv->vol, src->path);
     /* preserve errno */
 
     VIR_DEBUG("removing storage file %p(%s/%s): ret=%d, errno=%d",
@@ -648,7 +637,7 @@ virStorageFileBackendGlusterStat(virStorageSourcePtr src,
     virStorageFileBackendGlusterPrivPtr priv = src->drv->priv;
     int ret;
 
-    ret = glfs_stat(priv->vol, priv->path, st);
+    ret = glfs_stat(priv->vol, src->path, st);
     /* preserve errno */
 
     VIR_DEBUG("stat of storage file %p(%s/%s): ret=%d, errno=%d",
diff --git a/src/util/virstoragefile.c b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
index 5c1ab6204b..856b72620d 100644
--- a/src/util/virstoragefile.c
+++ b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
@@ -1757,6 +1757,7 @@ virStorageSourceClear(virStorageSourcePtr def)
         return;
 
     VIR_FREE(def->path);
+    VIR_FREE(def->volume);
     virStorageSourcePoolDefFree(def->srcpool);
     VIR_FREE(def->driverName);
     virBitmapFree(def->features);
diff --git a/src/util/virstoragefile.h b/src/util/virstoragefile.h
index f875b6999d..d3560a82a1 100644
--- a/src/util/virstoragefile.h
+++ b/src/util/virstoragefile.h
@@ -212,6 +212,7 @@ struct _virStorageSource {
     int type; /* virStorageType */
     char *path;
     int protocol; /* virStorageNetProtocol */
+    char *volume; /* volume name for remote storage */
     size_t nhosts;
     virStorageNetHostDefPtr hosts;
     virStorageSourcePoolDefPtr srcpool;