diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index a55adda4e5..facb942485 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -10436,7 +10436,6 @@ qemuBuildCommandLine(virQEMUDriver *driver,
                      const char *migrateURI,
                      virDomainMomentObj *snapshot,
                      virNetDevVPortProfileOp vmop,
-                     bool standalone,
                      bool enableFips,
                      size_t *nnicindexes,
                      int **nicindexes,
@@ -10484,7 +10483,7 @@ qemuBuildCommandLine(virQEMUDriver *driver,
 
     qemuBuildCompatDeprecatedCommandLine(cmd, cfg, def, qemuCaps);
 
-    if (!standalone)
+    if (!(flags & QEMU_BUILD_COMMAND_LINE_CPUS_RUNNING))
         virCommandAddArg(cmd, "-S"); /* freeze CPU */
 
     if (qemuBuildMasterKeyCommandLine(cmd, priv) < 0)
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.h b/src/qemu/qemu_command.h
index 9e8eef1e29..df46e80067 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.h
@@ -43,12 +43,15 @@
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(qemuVideo);
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(qemuSoundCodec);
 
+typedef enum {
+    QEMU_BUILD_COMMAND_LINE_CPUS_RUNNING = 1 << 0,
+} qemuBuildCommandLineFlags;
+
 virCommand *qemuBuildCommandLine(virQEMUDriver *driver,
                                    virDomainObj *vm,
                                    const char *migrateURI,
                                    virDomainMomentObj *snapshot,
                                    virNetDevVPortProfileOp vmop,
-                                   bool standalone,
                                    bool enableFips,
                                    size_t *nnicindexes,
                                    int **nicindexes,
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 702fd0239c..4f6b295859 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -6330,6 +6330,7 @@ static char *qemuConnectDomainXMLToNative(virConnectPtr conn,
     virQEMUDriver *driver = conn->privateData;
     virDomainObj *vm = NULL;
     g_autoptr(virCommand) cmd = NULL;
+    unsigned int commandlineflags = QEMU_BUILD_COMMAND_LINE_CPUS_RUNNING;
     char *ret = NULL;
     size_t i;
 
@@ -6383,7 +6384,8 @@ static char *qemuConnectDomainXMLToNative(virConnectPtr conn,
         goto cleanup;
 
     if (!(cmd = qemuProcessCreatePretendCmdBuild(driver, vm, NULL,
-                                                 qemuCheckFips(vm), true)))
+                                                 qemuCheckFips(vm),
+                                                 commandlineflags)))
         goto cleanup;
 
     ret = virCommandToString(cmd, false);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 07e467d01e..38079ce159 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -7450,7 +7450,6 @@ qemuProcessLaunch(virConnectPtr conn,
                                      vm,
                                      incoming ? "defer" : NULL,
                                      snapshot, vmop,
-                                     false,
                                      qemuCheckFips(vm),
                                      &nnicindexes, &nicindexes, 0)))
         goto cleanup;
@@ -7952,7 +7951,7 @@ qemuProcessCreatePretendCmdBuild(virQEMUDriver *driver,
                                  virDomainObj *vm,
                                  const char *migrateURI,
                                  bool enableFips,
-                                 bool standalone)
+                                 unsigned int flags)
 {
     VIR_DEBUG("Building emulator command line");
     return qemuBuildCommandLine(driver,
@@ -7960,11 +7959,10 @@ qemuProcessCreatePretendCmdBuild(virQEMUDriver *driver,
                                 migrateURI,
                                 NULL,
                                 VIR_NETDEV_VPORT_PROFILE_OP_NO_OP,
-                                standalone,
                                 enableFips,
                                 NULL,
                                 NULL,
-                                0);
+                                flags);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.h b/src/qemu/qemu_process.h
index f81bfd930a..fa3634c64f 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.h
@@ -98,10 +98,10 @@ int qemuProcessCreatePretendCmdPrepare(virQEMUDriver *driver,
                                        unsigned int flags);
 
 virCommand *qemuProcessCreatePretendCmdBuild(virQEMUDriver *driver,
-                                               virDomainObj *vm,
-                                               const char *migrateURI,
-                                               bool enableFips,
-                                               bool standalone);
+                                             virDomainObj *vm,
+                                             const char *migrateURI,
+                                             bool enableFips,
+                                             unsigned int flags);
 
 int qemuProcessInit(virQEMUDriver *driver,
                     virDomainObj *vm,
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index 363edc763e..ee5de55e21 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -488,7 +488,7 @@ testCompareXMLToArgvCreateArgs(virQEMUDriver *drv,
         enableFips = false;
 
     return qemuProcessCreatePretendCmdBuild(drv, vm, migrateURI,
-                                            enableFips, false);
+                                            enableFips, 0);
 }