diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index ea558bbcef..24e10e6ecc 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -5248,6 +5248,13 @@ virDomainChrDefParseXML(virCapsPtr caps,
             goto error;
         } else {
             def->source.data.spicevmc = VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_SPICEVMC_VDAGENT;
+            if (!def->target.name) {
+                def->target.name = strdup("com.redhat.spice.0");
+                if (!def->target.name) {
+                    virReportOOMError();
+                    goto error;
+                }
+            }
         }
     }