diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index 828f0ee7ca..a97023ce82 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -4977,7 +4977,7 @@ virQEMUCapsCacheLookupDefault(virFileCachePtr cache,
             goto cleanup;
         }
     } else {
-        machine = virQEMUCapsGetDefaultMachine(qemuCaps);
+        machine = virQEMUCapsGetPreferredMachine(qemuCaps);
     }
 
     if (virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_KVM))
@@ -5036,8 +5036,12 @@ virQEMUCapsIsMachineSupported(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
 }
 
 
+/*
+ * The preferred machine to use if none is listed explicitly
+ * Note that this may differ from QEMU's own default machine
+ */
 const char *
-virQEMUCapsGetDefaultMachine(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps)
+virQEMUCapsGetPreferredMachine(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps)
 {
     if (!qemuCaps->nmachineTypes)
         return NULL;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
index fdfbde48fe..da017ff52b 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
@@ -606,7 +606,7 @@ bool virQEMUCapsSupportsGICVersion(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
 bool virQEMUCapsIsMachineSupported(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
                                    const char *canonical_machine);
 
-const char *virQEMUCapsGetDefaultMachine(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps);
+const char *virQEMUCapsGetPreferredMachine(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps);
 
 int virQEMUCapsInitGuestFromBinary(virCapsPtr caps,
                                    const char *binary,
diff --git a/tests/domaincapstest.c b/tests/domaincapstest.c
index 06e77fd586..3b94cad223 100644
--- a/tests/domaincapstest.c
+++ b/tests/domaincapstest.c
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ fillQemuCaps(virDomainCapsPtr domCaps,
 
     if (!domCaps->machine &&
         VIR_STRDUP(domCaps->machine,
-                   virQEMUCapsGetDefaultMachine(qemuCaps)) < 0)
+                   virQEMUCapsGetPreferredMachine(qemuCaps)) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
     if (virQEMUCapsFillDomainCaps(caps, domCaps, qemuCaps,