diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index a92c8c698a..5cc1686020 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -10444,8 +10444,7 @@ qemuBuildCommandLine(virDomainObj *vm,
 
     qemuBuildCompatDeprecatedCommandLine(cmd, cfg, def, qemuCaps);
 
-    if (!(flags & QEMU_BUILD_COMMAND_LINE_CPUS_RUNNING))
-        virCommandAddArg(cmd, "-S"); /* freeze CPU */
+    virCommandAddArg(cmd, "-S"); /* freeze CPUs during startup */
 
     if (qemuBuildMasterKeyCommandLine(cmd, priv) < 0)
         return NULL;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.h b/src/qemu/qemu_command.h
index 72b0401c7b..087ab52ee5 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.h
@@ -43,10 +43,6 @@
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(qemuVideo);
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(qemuSoundCodec);
 
-typedef enum {
-    QEMU_BUILD_COMMAND_LINE_CPUS_RUNNING = 1 << 0,
-} qemuBuildCommandLineFlags;
-
 virCommand *qemuBuildCommandLine(virDomainObj *vm,
                                  const char *migrateURI,
                                  virDomainMomentObj *snapshot,
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 2ca264d9f9..5f4990b09c 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -6339,7 +6339,6 @@ static char *qemuConnectDomainXMLToNative(virConnectPtr conn,
     virQEMUDriver *driver = conn->privateData;
     g_autoptr(virDomainObj) vm = NULL;
     g_autoptr(virCommand) cmd = NULL;
-    unsigned int commandlineflags = QEMU_BUILD_COMMAND_LINE_CPUS_RUNNING;
     size_t i;
 
     virCheckFlags(0, NULL);
@@ -6391,7 +6390,7 @@ static char *qemuConnectDomainXMLToNative(virConnectPtr conn,
     if (qemuConnectDomainXMLToNativePrepareHost(vm) < 0)
         return NULL;
 
-    if (!(cmd = qemuProcessCreatePretendCmdBuild(vm, NULL, commandlineflags)))
+    if (!(cmd = qemuProcessCreatePretendCmdBuild(vm, NULL, 0)))
         return NULL;
 
     return virCommandToString(cmd, false);