diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index bf57f94a50..cbee151f5d 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -3766,8 +3766,17 @@ qemuDomainDeviceDefPostParse(virDomainDeviceDefPtr dev,
     /* clear auto generated unix socket path for inactive definitions */
     if ((parseFlags & VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_PARSE_INACTIVE) &&
         dev->type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_CHR) {
-        if (qemuDomainChrDefDropDefaultPath(dev->data.chr, driver) < 0)
+        virDomainChrDefPtr chr = dev->data.chr;
+        if (qemuDomainChrDefDropDefaultPath(chr, driver) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
+
+        /* For UNIX chardev if no path is provided we generate one.
+         * This also implies that the mode is 'bind'. */
+        if (chr->source &&
+            chr->source->type == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_UNIX &&
+            !chr->source->data.nix.path) {
+            chr->source->data.nix.listen = true;
+        }
     }
 
     if (dev->type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_VIDEO) {
@@ -7441,8 +7450,6 @@ qemuDomainPrepareChannel(virDomainChrDefPtr channel,
             return -1;
     }
 
-    channel->source->data.nix.listen = true;
-
     return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-chardev-reconnect-generated-path.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-chardev-reconnect-generated-path.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3cb67ecdcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-chardev-reconnect-generated-path.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>219136</memory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='i686' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='hd'/>
+  </os>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-i686</emulator>
+    <controller type='virtio-serial' index='1'>
+      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x0a' function='0x0'/>
+    </controller>
+    <channel type='unix'>
+      <source mode='connect' path='/tmp/channel/domain-oldname/asdf'>
+        <reconnect enabled='yes' timeout='10'/>
+      </source>
+      <target type='virtio' name='asdf'/>
+    </channel>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index 0c0bd16f94..18f06e5aa5 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -1351,6 +1351,9 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST_PARSE_ERROR("chardev-reconnect-invalid-timeout",
                         QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG,
                         QEMU_CAPS_CHARDEV_RECONNECT);
+    DO_TEST_PARSE_ERROR("chardev-reconnect-generated-path",
+                        QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG,
+                        QEMU_CAPS_CHARDEV_RECONNECT);
 
     DO_TEST("usb-controller",
             QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG);