diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 7618468c21..71d1666c54 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -975,6 +975,7 @@ void virDomainDiskDefFree(virDomainDiskDefPtr def)
     VIR_FREE(def->src);
     VIR_FREE(def->dst);
     VIR_FREE(def->driverName);
+    virStorageFileFreeMetadata(def->backingChain);
     VIR_FREE(def->mirror);
     VIR_FREE(def->auth.username);
     VIR_FREE(def->wwn);
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index 039e34ddc1..6e6b259d10 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 # include "virobject.h"
 # include "device_conf.h"
 # include "bitmap.h"
+# include "storage_file.h"
 
 /* forward declarations of all device types, required by
  * virDomainDeviceDef
@@ -568,6 +569,7 @@ struct _virDomainDiskDef {
     } auth;
     char *driverName;
     int format; /* enum virStorageFileFormat */
+    virStorageFileMetadataPtr backingChain;
 
     char *mirror;
     int mirrorFormat; /* enum virStorageFileFormat */
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index fb775c13c7..4e6a5e93a8 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -2012,3 +2012,29 @@ qemuDomainCleanupRun(struct qemud_driver *driver,
     priv->ncleanupCallbacks = 0;
     priv->ncleanupCallbacks_max = 0;
 }
+
+int
+qemuDomainDetermineDiskChain(struct qemud_driver *driver,
+                             virDomainDiskDefPtr disk,
+                             bool force)
+{
+    bool probe = driver->allowDiskFormatProbing;
+
+    if (!disk->src)
+        return 0;
+
+    if (disk->backingChain) {
+        if (force) {
+            virStorageFileFreeMetadata(disk->backingChain);
+            disk->backingChain = NULL;
+        } else {
+            return 0;
+        }
+    }
+    disk->backingChain = virStorageFileGetMetadata(disk->src, disk->format,
+                                                   driver->user, driver->group,
+                                                   probe);
+    if (!disk->backingChain)
+        return -1;
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
index 26b6c557c0..8a66f14ec9 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
@@ -343,6 +343,9 @@ bool qemuDomainJobAllowed(qemuDomainObjPrivatePtr priv,
 int qemuDomainCheckDiskPresence(struct qemud_driver *driver,
                                 virDomainObjPtr vm,
                                 bool start_with_state);
+int qemuDomainDetermineDiskChain(struct qemud_driver *driver,
+                                 virDomainDiskDefPtr disk,
+                                 bool force);
 
 int qemuDomainCleanupAdd(virDomainObjPtr vm,
                          qemuDomainCleanupCallback cb);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 6de65ea825..c3e4fd4a71 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -5816,6 +5816,9 @@ qemuDomainAttachDeviceDiskLive(virConnectPtr conn,
         goto end;
     }
 
+    if (qemuDomainDetermineDiskChain(driver, disk, false) < 0)
+        goto end;
+
     if (qemuCgroupControllerActive(driver, VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_DEVICES)) {
         if (virCgroupForDomain(driver->cgroup, vm->def->name, &cgroup, 0)) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
@@ -6044,6 +6047,9 @@ qemuDomainChangeDiskMediaLive(virDomainObjPtr vm,
     virCgroupPtr cgroup = NULL;
     int ret = -1;
 
+    if (qemuDomainDetermineDiskChain(driver, disk, false) < 0)
+        goto end;
+
     if (qemuCgroupControllerActive(driver, VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_DEVICES)) {
         if (virCgroupForDomain(driver->cgroup,
                                vm->def->name, &cgroup, 0) != 0) {
@@ -10789,6 +10795,14 @@ qemuDomainSnapshotCreateSingleDiskActive(struct qemud_driver *driver,
     disk->src = source;
     origdriver = disk->format;
     disk->format = VIR_STORAGE_FILE_RAW; /* Don't want to probe backing files */
+    /* XXX Here, we know we are about to alter disk->backingChain if
+     * successful, so we nuke the existing chain so that future
+     * commands will recompute it.  Better would be storing the chain
+     * ourselves rather than reprobing, but this requires modifying
+     * domain_conf and our XML to fully track the chain across
+     * libvirtd restarts.  */
+    virStorageFileFreeMetadata(disk->backingChain);
+    disk->backingChain = NULL;
 
     if (virDomainLockDiskAttach(driver->lockManager, driver->uri,
                                 vm, disk) < 0)
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index d3951d1326..0628621cb5 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -909,6 +909,14 @@ qemuProcessHandleBlockJob(qemuMonitorPtr mon ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
     if (disk) {
         path = disk->src;
         event = virDomainEventBlockJobNewFromObj(vm, path, type, status);
+        /* XXX If we completed a block pull, then recompute the cached
+         * backing chain to match.  Better would be storing the chain
+         * ourselves rather than reprobing, but this requires
+         * modifying domain_conf and our XML to fully track the chain
+         * across libvirtd restarts.  */
+        if (type == VIR_DOMAIN_BLOCK_JOB_TYPE_PULL &&
+            status == VIR_DOMAIN_BLOCK_JOB_COMPLETED)
+            qemuDomainDetermineDiskChain(driver, disk, true);
     }
 
     virDomainObjUnlock(vm);