diff --git a/src/conf/snapshot_conf.c b/src/conf/snapshot_conf.c
index 862c2ec00e..5daa8d11a7 100644
--- a/src/conf/snapshot_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/snapshot_conf.c
@@ -170,9 +170,7 @@ virDomainSnapshotDiskDefParseXML(xmlNodePtr node,
     }
 
     /* validate that the passed path is absolute */
-    if (virStorageSourceIsLocalStorage(def->src) &&
-        def->src->path &&
-        def->src->path[0] != '/') {
+    if (virStorageSourceIsRelative(def->src)) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
                        _("disk snapshot image path '%s' must be absolute"),
                        def->src->path);
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 7beebbf27b..5c82e4a0e6 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -2455,6 +2455,7 @@ virStorageSourceInitChainElement;
 virStorageSourceIsBlockLocal;
 virStorageSourceIsEmpty;
 virStorageSourceIsLocalStorage;
+virStorageSourceIsRelative;
 virStorageSourceNewFromBacking;
 virStorageSourceNewFromBackingAbsolute;
 virStorageSourceParseRBDColonString;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 0bf1856446..1a464337e8 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -16665,6 +16665,12 @@ qemuDomainBlockCopyCommon(virDomainObjPtr vm,
     priv = vm->privateData;
     cfg = virQEMUDriverGetConfig(driver);
 
+    if (virStorageSourceIsRelative(mirror)) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG, "%s",
+                       _("absolute path must be used as block copy target"));
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     if (qemuDomainObjBeginJob(driver, vm, QEMU_JOB_MODIFY) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
diff --git a/src/util/virstoragefile.c b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
index 9ec005d500..ce6d21388a 100644
--- a/src/util/virstoragefile.c
+++ b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
@@ -3672,3 +3672,34 @@ virStorageFileCheckCompat(const char *compat)
     virStringListFree(version);
     return ret;
 }
+
+
+/**
+ * virStorageSourceIsRelative:
+ * @src: storage source to check
+ *
+ * Returns true if given storage source definition is a relative path.
+ */
+bool
+virStorageSourceIsRelative(virStorageSourcePtr src)
+{
+    virStorageType actual_type = virStorageSourceGetActualType(src);
+
+    if (!src->path)
+        return false;
+
+    switch (actual_type) {
+    case VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_FILE:
+    case VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_BLOCK:
+    case VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_DIR:
+        return src->path[0] != '/';
+
+    case VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_NETWORK:
+    case VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_VOLUME:
+    case VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_NONE:
+    case VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_LAST:
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    return false;
+}
diff --git a/src/util/virstoragefile.h b/src/util/virstoragefile.h
index 6d1aac78df..1f62244dbc 100644
--- a/src/util/virstoragefile.h
+++ b/src/util/virstoragefile.h
@@ -388,4 +388,6 @@ int virStorageFileCheckCompat(const char *compat);
 
 virStorageSourcePtr virStorageSourceNewFromBackingAbsolute(const char *path);
 
+bool virStorageSourceIsRelative(virStorageSourcePtr src);
+
 #endif /* __VIR_STORAGE_FILE_H__ */