diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index a546d9b5a1..b48bcbebee 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -4149,12 +4149,6 @@ virQEMUCapsInitQMPMonitor(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
 
     /* @mon is supposed to be locked by callee */
 
-    if (qemuMonitorSetCapabilities(mon) < 0) {
-        VIR_DEBUG("Failed to set monitor capabilities %s",
-                  virGetLastErrorMessage());
-        goto cleanup;
-    }
-
     if (qemuMonitorGetVersion(mon,
                               &major, &minor, &micro,
                               &package) < 0) {
@@ -4333,12 +4327,6 @@ virQEMUCapsInitQMPMonitorTCG(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
 {
     int ret = -1;
 
-    if (qemuMonitorSetCapabilities(mon) < 0) {
-        VIR_DEBUG("Failed to set monitor capabilities %s",
-                  virGetLastErrorMessage());
-        goto cleanup;
-    }
-
     if (virQEMUCapsProbeQMPCPUDefinitions(qemuCaps, mon, true) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 820476dbb1..85952b9975 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -8544,6 +8544,19 @@ qemuProcessQMPLaunch(qemuProcessQMPPtr proc)
 }
 
 
+int
+qemuProcessQMPInitMonitor(qemuMonitorPtr mon)
+{
+    if (qemuMonitorSetCapabilities(mon) < 0) {
+        VIR_DEBUG("Failed to set monitor capabilities %s",
+                  virGetLastErrorMessage());
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
 static int
 qemuProcessQMPConnectMonitor(qemuProcessQMPPtr proc)
 {
@@ -8570,6 +8583,9 @@ qemuProcessQMPConnectMonitor(qemuProcessQMPPtr proc)
 
     virObjectLock(proc->mon);
 
+    if (qemuProcessQMPInitMonitor(proc->mon) < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+
     ret = 0;
 
  cleanup:
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_processpriv.h b/src/qemu/qemu_processpriv.h
index 17f981829b..237d7bad58 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_processpriv.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_processpriv.h
@@ -38,4 +38,6 @@ int qemuProcessHandleDeviceDeleted(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
                                    const char *devAlias,
                                    void *opaque);
 
+int qemuProcessQMPInitMonitor(qemuMonitorPtr mon);
+
 #endif /* LIBVIRT_QEMU_PROCESSPRIV_H */
diff --git a/tests/qemucapabilitiestest.c b/tests/qemucapabilitiestest.c
index fab77db7ce..8d47133e6f 100644
--- a/tests/qemucapabilitiestest.c
+++ b/tests/qemucapabilitiestest.c
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@
 #include "qemu/qemu_capspriv.h"
 #define LIBVIRT_QEMU_MONITOR_PRIV_H_ALLOW
 #include "qemu/qemu_monitor_priv.h"
+#define LIBVIRT_QEMU_PROCESSPRIV_H_ALLOW
+#include "qemu/qemu_processpriv.h"
 
 #define VIR_FROM_THIS VIR_FROM_NONE
 
@@ -60,6 +62,9 @@ testQemuCaps(const void *opaque)
     if (!(mon = qemuMonitorTestNewFromFileFull(repliesFile, &data->driver, NULL)))
         goto cleanup;
 
+    if (qemuProcessQMPInitMonitor(qemuMonitorTestGetMonitor(mon)) < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+
     if (!(capsActual = virQEMUCapsNew()) ||
         virQEMUCapsInitQMPMonitor(capsActual,
                                   qemuMonitorTestGetMonitor(mon)) < 0)
@@ -67,6 +72,10 @@ testQemuCaps(const void *opaque)
 
     if (virQEMUCapsGet(capsActual, QEMU_CAPS_KVM)) {
         qemuMonitorResetCommandID(qemuMonitorTestGetMonitor(mon));
+
+        if (qemuProcessQMPInitMonitor(qemuMonitorTestGetMonitor(mon)) < 0)
+            goto cleanup;
+
         if (virQEMUCapsInitQMPMonitorTCG(capsActual,
                                          qemuMonitorTestGetMonitor(mon)) < 0)
             goto cleanup;