diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 5a5f2c10d7..7371c8d702 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+Mon Dec 15 10:59:19 GMT 2008 Daniel P. Berrange <berrange@redhat.com>
+
+	* src/domain_conf.c: Unlock domain object after fetching
+	it to avoid deadlock when re-loading configs
+
 Fri Dec 12 17:41:19 +0100 2008 Jim Meyering <meyering@redhat.com>
 
 	remove redundant optname arguments
diff --git a/src/domain_conf.c b/src/domain_conf.c
index 485ffb2436..75f32e5b11 100644
--- a/src/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/domain_conf.c
@@ -3330,8 +3330,11 @@ virDomainObjPtr virDomainLoadConfig(virConnectPtr conn,
                                       VIR_DOMAIN_XML_INACTIVE)))
         goto error;
 
-    if (virDomainFindByName(doms, def->name))
+    if ((dom = virDomainFindByName(doms, def->name))) {
+        virDomainObjUnlock(dom);
+        dom = NULL;
         newVM = 0;
+    }
 
     if (!(dom = virDomainAssignDef(conn, doms, def)))
         goto error;