diff --git a/m4/virt-loader-nvram.m4 b/m4/virt-loader-nvram.m4
index d7e0c8ca18..ed2ae0cf27 100644
--- a/m4/virt-loader-nvram.m4
+++ b/m4/virt-loader-nvram.m4
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_CHECK_LOADER_NVRAM], [
     l=$(echo $with_loader_nvram | tr ':' '\n' | wc -l)
     if test $(expr $l % 2) -ne 0 ; then
       AC_MSG_ERROR([Malformed --with-loader-nvram argument])
+    elif test $l -gt 0 ; then
+      AC_MSG_WARN([Note that --with-loader-nvram is obsolete and will be removed soon])
     fi
     AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([DEFAULT_LOADER_NVRAM], ["$with_loader_nvram"],
                        [List of loader:nvram pairs])
@@ -37,5 +39,11 @@ AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_CHECK_LOADER_NVRAM], [
 ])
 
 AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_RESULT_LOADER_NVRAM], [
-  LIBVIRT_RESULT([Loader/NVRAM], [$with_loader_nvram])
+  if test "x$with_loader_nvram" != "xno" && \
+     test "x$with_loader_nvram" != "x" ; then
+    LIBVIRT_RESULT([Loader/NVRAM], [$with_loader_nvram],
+                   [!!! Using this configure option is strongly discouraged !!!])
+  else
+    LIBVIRT_RESULT([Loader/NVRAM], [$with_loader_nvram])
+  fi
 ])
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu.conf b/src/qemu/qemu.conf
index b3a3428e4c..7a056b037e 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu.conf
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu.conf
@@ -761,6 +761,9 @@
 # source tree. These metadata files are distributed alongside any
 # firmware images intended for use with QEMU.
 #
+# NOTE: if ANY firmware metadata files are detected, this setting
+# will be COMPLETELY IGNORED.
+#
 # ------------------------------------------
 #
 # When a domain is configured to use UEFI instead of standard
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
index fae697a2ef..293f2635cc 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #include "qemu_conf.h"
 #include "qemu_capabilities.h"
 #include "qemu_domain.h"
+#include "qemu_firmware.h"
 #include "qemu_security.h"
 #include "viruuid.h"
 #include "virbuffer.h"
@@ -799,7 +800,8 @@ virQEMUDriverConfigLoadLogEntry(virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
 
 static int
 virQEMUDriverConfigLoadNVRAMEntry(virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
-                                  virConfPtr conf)
+                                  virConfPtr conf,
+                                  bool privileged)
 {
     VIR_AUTOSTRINGLIST nvram = NULL;
     size_t i;
@@ -807,8 +809,21 @@ virQEMUDriverConfigLoadNVRAMEntry(virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
     if (virConfGetValueStringList(conf, "nvram", false, &nvram) < 0)
         return -1;
     if (nvram) {
+        VIR_AUTOSTRINGLIST fwList = NULL;
+
         virFirmwareFreeList(cfg->firmwares, cfg->nfirmwares);
 
+        if (qemuFirmwareFetchConfigs(&fwList, privileged) < 0)
+            return -1;
+
+        if (fwList) {
+            VIR_WARN("Obsolete nvram variable is set while firmware metadata "
+                     "files found. Note that the nvram config file variable is "
+                     "going to be ignored.");
+            cfg->nfirmwares = 0;
+            return 0;
+        }
+
         cfg->nfirmwares = virStringListLength((const char *const *)nvram);
         if (nvram[0] && VIR_ALLOC_N(cfg->firmwares, cfg->nfirmwares) < 0)
             return -1;
@@ -1041,7 +1056,7 @@ int virQEMUDriverConfigLoadFile(virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
     if (virQEMUDriverConfigLoadLogEntry(cfg, conf) < 0)
         return -1;
 
-    if (virQEMUDriverConfigLoadNVRAMEntry(cfg, conf) < 0)
+    if (virQEMUDriverConfigLoadNVRAMEntry(cfg, conf, privileged) < 0)
         return -1;
 
     if (virQEMUDriverConfigLoadGlusterDebugEntry(cfg, conf) < 0)