diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 0f58f58f3f..2cc03d92ac 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -3728,6 +3728,15 @@ virDomainDefRemoveDuplicateMetadata(virDomainDefPtr def)
 static int
 virDomainDefPostParseMemory(virDomainDefPtr def)
 {
+    size_t i;
+
+    if ((def->mem.initial_memory = virDomainNumaGetMemorySize(def->numa)) == 0) {
+        def->mem.initial_memory = def->mem.total_memory;
+
+        for (i = 0; i < def->nmems; i++)
+            def->mem.initial_memory -= def->mems[i]->size;
+    }
+
     if (virDomainDefGetMemoryInitial(def) == 0) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR, "%s",
                        _("Memory size must be specified via <memory> or in the "
@@ -7699,19 +7708,7 @@ virDomainDefHasMemoryHotplug(const virDomainDef *def)
 unsigned long long
 virDomainDefGetMemoryInitial(virDomainDefPtr def)
 {
-    unsigned long long ret;
-    size_t i;
-
-    /* return NUMA memory size total in case numa is enabled */
-    if ((ret = virDomainNumaGetMemorySize(def->numa)) > 0) {
-        return ret;
-    } else {
-        ret = def->mem.total_memory;
-        for (i = 0; i < def->nmems; i++)
-            ret -= def->mems[i]->size;
-    }
-
-    return def->mem.total_memory;
+    return def->mem.initial_memory;
 }
 
 
@@ -7720,13 +7717,30 @@ virDomainDefGetMemoryInitial(virDomainDefPtr def)
  * @def: domain definition
  * @size: size to set
  *
- * Sets the total memory size in @def.
+ * Sets the total memory size in @def. This function should be used only by
+ * hypervisors that don't support memory hotplug.
  */
 void
 virDomainDefSetMemoryTotal(virDomainDefPtr def,
                            unsigned long long size)
 {
     def->mem.total_memory = size;
+    def->mem.initial_memory = size;
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * virDomainDefSetMemoryInitial:
+ * @def: domain definition
+ * @size: size to set
+ *
+ * Sets the initial memory size (without memory modules) in @def.
+ */
+void
+virDomainDefSetMemoryInitial(virDomainDefPtr def,
+                             unsigned long long size)
+{
+    def->mem.initial_memory = size;
 }
 
 
@@ -7744,12 +7758,10 @@ virDomainDefGetMemoryActual(virDomainDefPtr def)
     unsigned long long ret;
     size_t i;
 
-    if ((ret = virDomainNumaGetMemorySize(def->numa)) > 0) {
-        for (i = 0; i < def->nmems; i++)
-            ret += def->mems[i]->size;
-    } else {
-        ret = def->mem.total_memory;
-    }
+    ret = def->mem.initial_memory;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < def->nmems; i++)
+        ret += def->mems[i]->size;
 
     return ret;
 }
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index 74c29bd7fd..ab250bd1be 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -2145,6 +2145,8 @@ struct _virDomainMemtune {
     /* total memory size including memory modules in kibibytes, this field
      * should be accessed only via accessors */
     unsigned long long total_memory;
+    /* initial memory size in kibibytes = total_memory excluding memory modules*/
+    unsigned long long initial_memory;
     unsigned long long cur_balloon; /* in kibibytes, capped at ulong thanks
                                        to virDomainGetInfo */
 
@@ -2324,6 +2326,7 @@ struct _virDomainDef {
 
 unsigned long long virDomainDefGetMemoryInitial(virDomainDefPtr def);
 void virDomainDefSetMemoryTotal(virDomainDefPtr def, unsigned long long size);
+void virDomainDefSetMemoryInitial(virDomainDefPtr def, unsigned long long size);
 unsigned long long virDomainDefGetMemoryActual(virDomainDefPtr def);
 bool virDomainDefHasMemoryHotplug(const virDomainDef *def);
 
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index d31687d12b..c87efa1d07 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ virDomainDefParseFile;
 virDomainDefParseNode;
 virDomainDefParseString;
 virDomainDefPostParse;
+virDomainDefSetMemoryInitial;
 virDomainDefSetMemoryTotal;
 virDomainDeleteConfig;
 virDomainDeviceAddressIsValid;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index e3cd17f463..9f40276d64 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -3374,6 +3374,7 @@ qemuDomainGetMemorySizeAlignment(virDomainDefPtr def ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
 int
 qemuDomainAlignMemorySizes(virDomainDefPtr def)
 {
+    unsigned long long initialmem = 0;
     unsigned long long mem;
     unsigned long long align = qemuDomainGetMemorySizeAlignment(def);
     size_t ncells = virDomainNumaGetNodeCount(def->numa);
@@ -3381,13 +3382,17 @@ qemuDomainAlignMemorySizes(virDomainDefPtr def)
 
     /* align NUMA cell sizes if relevant */
     for (i = 0; i < ncells; i++) {
-        mem = virDomainNumaGetNodeMemorySize(def->numa, i);
-        virDomainNumaSetNodeMemorySize(def->numa, i, VIR_ROUND_UP(mem, align));
+        mem = VIR_ROUND_UP(virDomainNumaGetNodeMemorySize(def->numa, i), align);
+        initialmem += mem;
+        virDomainNumaSetNodeMemorySize(def->numa, i, mem);
     }
 
-    /* align initial memory size */
-    mem = virDomainDefGetMemoryInitial(def);
-    virDomainDefSetMemoryTotal(def, VIR_ROUND_UP(mem, align));
+    /* align initial memory size, if NUMA is present calculate it as total of
+     * individual aligned NUMA node sizes */
+    if (initialmem == 0)
+        initialmem = VIR_ROUND_UP(virDomainDefGetMemoryInitial(def), align);
+
+    virDomainDefSetMemoryInitial(def, initialmem);
 
     def->mem.max_memory = VIR_ROUND_UP(def->mem.max_memory, align);