diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index e34f12e23d..13fd706a8c 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -3268,9 +3268,12 @@ qemuDomainControllerDefPostParse(virDomainControllerDefPtr cont,
             } else if (ARCH_IS_PPC64(def->os.arch)) {
                 /* To not break migration we need to set default USB controller
                  * for ppc64 to pci-ohci if we cannot change ABI of the VM.
-                 * The nec-usb-xhci controller is used as default only for
-                 * newly defined domains or devices. */
+                 * The nec-usb-xhci or qemu-xhci controller is used as default
+                 * only for newly defined domains or devices. */
                 if ((parseFlags & VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_PARSE_ABI_UPDATE) &&
+                    virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_QEMU_XHCI)) {
+                    cont->model = VIR_DOMAIN_CONTROLLER_MODEL_USB_QEMU_XHCI;
+                } else if ((parseFlags & VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_PARSE_ABI_UPDATE) &&
                     virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_NEC_USB_XHCI)) {
                     cont->model = VIR_DOMAIN_CONTROLLER_MODEL_USB_NEC_XHCI;
                 } else if (virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_PCI_OHCI)) {
@@ -3280,7 +3283,9 @@ qemuDomainControllerDefPostParse(virDomainControllerDefPtr cont,
                     cont->model = -1;
                 }
             } else if (def->os.arch == VIR_ARCH_AARCH64) {
-                if (virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_NEC_USB_XHCI))
+                if (virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_QEMU_XHCI))
+                    cont->model = VIR_DOMAIN_CONTROLLER_MODEL_USB_QEMU_XHCI;
+                else if (virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_NEC_USB_XHCI))
                     cont->model = VIR_DOMAIN_CONTROLLER_MODEL_USB_NEC_XHCI;
             }
         }
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-aarch64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci.args b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-aarch64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci.args
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0aa27f7abb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-aarch64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci.args
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+LC_ALL=C \
+PATH=/bin \
+HOME=/home/test \
+USER=test \
+LOGNAME=test \
+QEMU_AUDIO_DRV=none \
+/usr/bin/qemu-system-aarch64 \
+-name QEMUGuest1 \
+-S \
+-M virt \
+-m 214 \
+-smp 1,sockets=1,cores=1,threads=1 \
+-uuid c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809 \
+-nographic \
+-nodefaults \
+-monitor unix:/tmp/lib/domain--1-QEMUGuest1/monitor.sock,server,nowait \
+-no-acpi \
+-boot c \
+-device qemu-xhci,id=usb,bus=pcie.0,addr=0x1
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-aarch64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-aarch64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1b7320f433
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-aarch64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>219100</memory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='aarch64' machine='virt'>hvm</type>
+  </os>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-aarch64</emulator>
+    <controller type='usb' index='0'>
+      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x0'/>
+    </controller>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-ppc64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci.args b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-ppc64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci.args
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0f19eb7e66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-ppc64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci.args
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+LC_ALL=C \
+PATH=/bin \
+HOME=/home/test \
+USER=test \
+LOGNAME=test \
+QEMU_AUDIO_DRV=none \
+/usr/bin/qemu-system-ppc64 \
+-name QEMUGuest1 \
+-S \
+-M pseries \
+-m 256 \
+-smp 1,sockets=1,cores=1,threads=1 \
+-uuid c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809 \
+-nographic \
+-nodefaults \
+-monitor unix:/tmp/lib/domain--1-QEMUGuest1/monitor.sock,server,nowait \
+-boot c \
+-device qemu-xhci,id=usb,bus=pci.0,addr=0x1 \
+-device virtio-balloon-pci,id=balloon0,bus=pci.0,addr=0x6
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-ppc64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-ppc64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci.xml
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000..831d9d4f1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-ppc64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci.xml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+qemuxml2argv-ppc64-usb-controller.xml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index 7e0119c673..ce87938fad 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -2472,6 +2472,15 @@ mymain(void)
             QEMU_CAPS_PCI_OHCI);
     DO_TEST("ppc64-usb-controller-legacy",
             QEMU_CAPS_PIIX3_USB_UHCI);
+    DO_TEST_FULL("ppc64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci", NULL, -1, 0,
+                 VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_PARSE_ABI_UPDATE, GIC_NONE,
+                 QEMU_CAPS_NEC_USB_XHCI,
+                 QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_QEMU_XHCI);
+
+    DO_TEST("aarch64-usb-controller-qemu-xhci",
+            QEMU_CAPS_OBJECT_GPEX,
+            QEMU_CAPS_NEC_USB_XHCI,
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_QEMU_XHCI);
 
     DO_TEST("aarch64-usb-controller-nec-xhci",
             QEMU_CAPS_OBJECT_GPEX,