diff --git a/src/util/virdbus.c b/src/util/virdbus.c
index 62c31bea81..a2c4b4e42d 100644
--- a/src/util/virdbus.c
+++ b/src/util/virdbus.c
@@ -1207,6 +1207,61 @@ int virDBusMessageRead(DBusMessage *msg,
     return ret;
 }
 
+/**
+ * virDBusIsServiceEnabled:
+ * @name: service name
+ *
+ * Retruns 0 if service is available, -1 on fatal error, or -2 if service is not available
+ */
+int virDBusIsServiceEnabled(const char *name)
+{
+    DBusConnection *conn;
+    DBusMessage *reply = NULL;
+    DBusMessageIter iter, sub;
+    int ret = -1;
+
+    if (!virDBusHasSystemBus())
+        return -2;
+
+    conn = virDBusGetSystemBus();
+
+    if (virDBusCallMethod(conn,
+                          &reply,
+                          "org.freedesktop.DBus",
+                          "/org/freedesktop/DBus",
+                          "org.freedesktop.DBus",
+                          "ListActivatableNames",
+                          DBUS_TYPE_INVALID) < 0)
+        return ret;
+
+    if (!dbus_message_iter_init(reply, &iter) ||
+        dbus_message_iter_get_arg_type(&iter) != DBUS_TYPE_ARRAY) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                       _("Reply message incorrect"));
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
+    ret = -2;
+    dbus_message_iter_recurse(&iter, &sub);
+    while (dbus_message_iter_get_arg_type(&sub) == DBUS_TYPE_STRING) {
+        const char *service = NULL;
+
+        dbus_message_iter_get_basic(&sub, &service);
+        dbus_message_iter_next(&sub);
+
+        if (STREQ(service, name)) {
+            ret = 0;
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+
+    VIR_DEBUG("Service %s is %s", name, ret ? "unavailable" : "available");
+
+ cleanup:
+    dbus_message_unref(reply);
+    return ret;
+}
+
 
 #else /* ! WITH_DBUS */
 DBusConnection *virDBusGetSystemBus(void)
@@ -1271,4 +1326,10 @@ int virDBusMessageDecode(DBusMessage* msg ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
     return -1;
 }
 
+int virDBusIsServiceEnabled(const char *name ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
+{
+    VIR_DEBUG("DBus support not compiled into this binary");
+    return -2;
+}
+
 #endif /* ! WITH_DBUS */
diff --git a/src/util/virdbus.h b/src/util/virdbus.h
index a5aab568f6..194a01abba 100644
--- a/src/util/virdbus.h
+++ b/src/util/virdbus.h
@@ -45,4 +45,5 @@ int virDBusCallMethod(DBusConnection *conn,
 int virDBusMessageRead(DBusMessage *msg,
                        const char *types, ...);
 
+int virDBusIsServiceEnabled(const char *name);
 #endif /* __VIR_DBUS_H__ */
diff --git a/src/util/virsystemd.c b/src/util/virsystemd.c
index 3e69ef6679..7674cc6cf9 100644
--- a/src/util/virsystemd.c
+++ b/src/util/virsystemd.c
@@ -138,18 +138,20 @@ int virSystemdCreateMachine(const char *name,
                             bool iscontainer,
                             const char *partition)
 {
-    int ret = -1;
+    int ret;
     DBusConnection *conn;
     char *machinename = NULL;
     char *creatorname = NULL;
     char *username = NULL;
     char *slicename = NULL;
 
-    if (!virDBusHasSystemBus())
-        return -2;
+    ret = virDBusIsServiceEnabled("org.freedesktop.machine1");
+    if (ret < 0)
+        return ret;
 
     conn = virDBusGetSystemBus();
 
+    ret = -1;
     if (privileged) {
         if (virAsprintf(&machinename, "%s-%s", drivername, name) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
@@ -228,15 +230,8 @@ int virSystemdCreateMachine(const char *name,
                           (unsigned int)pidleader,
                           rootdir ? rootdir : "",
                           1, "Slice", "s",
-                          slicename) < 0) {
-        virErrorPtr err = virGetLastError();
-        if (err->code == VIR_ERR_DBUS_SERVICE &&
-            STREQ(err->str2, "org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown")) {
-            virResetLastError();
-            ret = -2;
-        }
+                          slicename) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
-    }
 
     ret = 0;