diff --git a/tools/virsh-domain.c b/tools/virsh-domain.c
index 0be92805d7..bfcc0b38f6 100644
--- a/tools/virsh-domain.c
+++ b/tools/virsh-domain.c
@@ -4542,10 +4542,7 @@ cmdSaveImageEdit(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmd *cmd)
      * However, in the edit cycle, we let the user retry if the define
      * step fails, but the define step will always fail on invalid
      * flags, so we reject it up front to avoid looping.  */
-    if (define_flags == (VIR_DOMAIN_SAVE_RUNNING | VIR_DOMAIN_SAVE_PAUSED)) {
-        vshError(ctl, "%s", _("--running and --paused are mutually exclusive"));
-        return false;
-    }
+    VSH_EXCLUSIVE_OPTIONS("running", "paused");
 
     if (vshCommandOptStringReq(ctl, cmd, "file", &file) < 0)
         return false;