diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 43bd0fff40..70fb40650e 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -3997,6 +3997,30 @@ qemuDomainDeviceDefValidateController(const virDomainControllerDef *controller,
 }
 
 
+static int
+qemuDomainDeviceDefValidateMemory(const virDomainMemoryDef *memory ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
+                                  const virDomainDef *def)
+{
+    const long system_page_size = virGetSystemPageSizeKB();
+
+    /* We can't guarantee any other mem.access
+     * if no guest NUMA nodes are defined. */
+    if (def->mem.nhugepages != 0 &&
+        def->mem.hugepages[0].size != system_page_size &&
+        virDomainNumaGetNodeCount(def->numa) == 0 &&
+        def->mem.access != VIR_DOMAIN_MEMORY_ACCESS_DEFAULT &&
+        def->mem.access != VIR_DOMAIN_MEMORY_ACCESS_PRIVATE) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
+                       _("memory access mode '%s' not supported "
+                         "without guest numa node"),
+                       virDomainMemoryAccessTypeToString(def->mem.access));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
 static int
 qemuDomainDeviceDefValidate(const virDomainDeviceDef *dev,
                             const virDomainDef *def,
@@ -4052,6 +4076,10 @@ qemuDomainDeviceDefValidate(const virDomainDeviceDef *dev,
                                                     qemuCaps);
         break;
 
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_MEMORY:
+        ret = qemuDomainDeviceDefValidateMemory(dev->data.memory, def);
+        break;
+
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_LEASE:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_FS:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_INPUT:
@@ -4063,7 +4091,6 @@ qemuDomainDeviceDefValidate(const virDomainDeviceDef *dev,
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_SHMEM:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_TPM:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_PANIC:
-    case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_MEMORY:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_IOMMU:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NONE:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_LAST:
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/hugepages-memaccess3.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/hugepages-memaccess3.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8ec38d802a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/hugepages-memaccess3.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+<domain type='kvm'>
+  <name>fedora</name>
+  <uuid>63840878-0deb-4095-97e6-fc444d9bc9fa</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>4194304</memory>
+  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>4194304</currentMemory>
+  <memoryBacking>
+    <hugepages/>
+    <access mode='shared'/>
+  </memoryBacking>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>4</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='x86_64' machine='pc-i440fx-2.9'>hvm</type>
+    <bootmenu enable='yes'/>
+  </os>
+  <features>
+    <acpi/>
+    <apic/>
+    <pae/>
+  </features>
+  <cpu mode='host-model' check='partial'>
+    <model fallback='allow'/>
+  </cpu>
+  <clock offset='variable' adjustment='500' basis='utc'>
+    <timer name='rtc' tickpolicy='catchup'/>
+    <timer name='pit' tickpolicy='delay'/>
+    <timer name='hpet' present='no'/>
+  </clock>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <pm>
+    <suspend-to-mem enabled='yes'/>
+    <suspend-to-disk enabled='yes'/>
+  </pm>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64</emulator>
+    <disk type='file' device='disk'>
+      <driver name='qemu' type='qcow2' discard='unmap'/>
+      <source file='/var/lib/libvirt/images/fedora.qcow2'/>
+      <target dev='sda' bus='scsi'/>
+      <boot order='1'/>
+      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' target='0' unit='0'/>
+    </disk>
+    <controller type='usb' index='0' model='piix3-uhci'>
+      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x2'/>
+    </controller>
+    <controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'/>
+    <controller type='scsi' index='0'>
+      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x05' function='0x0'/>
+    </controller>
+    <controller type='virtio-serial' index='0'>
+      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x06' function='0x0'/>
+    </controller>
+    <controller type='ide' index='0'>
+      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x1'/>
+    </controller>
+    <serial type='pty'>
+      <target type='isa-serial' port='1'>
+        <model name='isa-serial'/>
+      </target>
+    </serial>
+    <console type='pty'>
+      <target type='serial' port='1'/>
+    </console>
+    <channel type='unix'>
+      <target type='virtio' name='org.qemu.guest_agent.0'/>
+      <address type='virtio-serial' controller='0' bus='0' port='1'/>
+    </channel>
+    <input type='mouse' bus='ps2'/>
+    <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'/>
+    <graphics type='vnc' port='-1' autoport='yes' listen='0.0.0.0'>
+      <listen type='address' address='0.0.0.0'/>
+    </graphics>
+    <graphics type='spice'>
+      <listen type='socket' socket='/tmp/spice.sock'/>
+    </graphics>
+    <video>
+      <model type='virtio' heads='1' primary='yes'>
+        <acceleration accel3d='yes'/>
+      </model>
+      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x02' function='0x0'/>
+    </video>
+    <memballoon model='virtio'>
+      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x07' function='0x0'/>
+    </memballoon>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index 10ab8d787d..fe15072dc1 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -861,6 +861,9 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST("hugepages-memaccess2", QEMU_CAPS_OBJECT_MEMORY_FILE,
             QEMU_CAPS_OBJECT_MEMORY_RAM, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PC_DIMM,
             QEMU_CAPS_NUMA);
+    DO_TEST_FAILURE("hugepages-memaccess3", QEMU_CAPS_MEM_PATH,
+            QEMU_CAPS_OBJECT_MEMORY_RAM, QEMU_CAPS_OBJECT_MEMORY_FILE,
+            QEMU_CAPS_VIRTIO_SCSI);
     DO_TEST("nosharepages", QEMU_CAPS_MACHINE_OPT, QEMU_CAPS_MEM_MERGE);
     DO_TEST("disk-cdrom", NONE);
     DO_TEST("disk-iscsi", NONE);