diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 2019ef52d0..7cbc35b2c6 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -1118,6 +1118,7 @@ virCgroupSetMemorySoftLimit;
 virCgroupSetMemSwapHardLimit;
 virCgroupSetOwner;
 virCgroupSupportsCpuBW;
+virCgroupTerminateMachine;
 
 
 # util/virclosecallbacks.h
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c b/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c
index bd22b7fbd6..fa894c578b 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c
@@ -1206,13 +1206,22 @@ qemuSetupCgroupForIOThreads(virDomainObjPtr vm)
 }
 
 int
-qemuRemoveCgroup(virDomainObjPtr vm)
+qemuRemoveCgroup(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
+                 virDomainObjPtr vm)
 {
     qemuDomainObjPrivatePtr priv = vm->privateData;
+    virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg = virQEMUDriverGetConfig(driver);
 
     if (priv->cgroup == NULL)
         return 0; /* Not supported, so claim success */
 
+    if (virCgroupTerminateMachine(vm->def->name,
+                                  "qemu",
+                                  cfg->privileged) < 0) {
+        if (!virCgroupNewIgnoreError())
+            VIR_DEBUG("Failed to terminate cgroup for %s", vm->def->name);
+    }
+
     return virCgroupRemove(priv->cgroup);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.h b/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.h
index 8a2c723bb7..4a4f22c778 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.h
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ int qemuSetupCgroupForIOThreads(virDomainObjPtr vm);
 int qemuSetupCgroupForEmulator(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
                                virDomainObjPtr vm,
                                virBitmapPtr nodemask);
-int qemuRemoveCgroup(virDomainObjPtr vm);
+int qemuRemoveCgroup(virQEMUDriverPtr driver, virDomainObjPtr vm);
 int qemuAddToCgroup(virDomainObjPtr vm);
 
 #endif /* __QEMU_CGROUP_H__ */
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 11eeb3ca38..712a25e022 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -4143,7 +4143,7 @@ int qemuProcessStart(virConnectPtr conn,
     /* Ensure no historical cgroup for this VM is lying around bogus
      * settings */
     VIR_DEBUG("Ensuring no historical cgroup is lying around");
-    qemuRemoveCgroup(vm);
+    qemuRemoveCgroup(driver, vm);
 
     for (i = 0; i < vm->def->ngraphics; ++i) {
         virDomainGraphicsDefPtr graphics = vm->def->graphics[i];
@@ -4921,7 +4921,7 @@ void qemuProcessStop(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
     }
 
  retry:
-    if ((ret = qemuRemoveCgroup(vm)) < 0) {
+    if ((ret = qemuRemoveCgroup(driver, vm)) < 0) {
         if (ret == -EBUSY && (retries++ < 5)) {
             usleep(200*1000);
             goto retry;
diff --git a/src/util/vircgroup.c b/src/util/vircgroup.c
index 1dbe6f99e8..d69f71bc22 100644
--- a/src/util/vircgroup.c
+++ b/src/util/vircgroup.c
@@ -1680,6 +1680,17 @@ virCgroupNewMachineSystemd(const char *name,
 }
 
 
+/*
+ * Returns 0 on success, -1 on fatal error
+ */
+int virCgroupTerminateMachine(const char *name,
+                              const char *drivername,
+                              bool privileged)
+{
+    return virSystemdTerminateMachine(name, drivername, privileged);
+}
+
+
 static int
 virCgroupNewMachineManual(const char *name,
                           const char *drivername,
diff --git a/src/util/vircgroup.h b/src/util/vircgroup.h
index 19e82d16eb..7718a07d10 100644
--- a/src/util/vircgroup.h
+++ b/src/util/vircgroup.h
@@ -106,6 +106,11 @@ int virCgroupNewMachine(const char *name,
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(2)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(4);
 
+int virCgroupTerminateMachine(const char *name,
+                              const char *drivername,
+                              bool privileged)
+    ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(2);
+
 bool virCgroupNewIgnoreError(void);
 
 void virCgroupFree(virCgroupPtr *group);