diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index 2af441803c..ffe7bcdf43 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -3492,25 +3492,21 @@ virQEMUCapsInitCached(virCapsPtr caps,
         VIR_WARN("Failed to load cached caps from '%s' for '%s': %s",
                  capsfile, qemuCaps->binary, virGetLastErrorMessage());
         virResetLastError();
-        ret = 0;
-        virQEMUCapsReset(qemuCaps);
-        goto cleanup;
+        goto discard;
     }
 
+    if (!virQEMUCapsIsValid(qemuCaps, qemuctime))
+        goto discard;
+
     /* Discard cache if QEMU binary or libvirtd changed */
-    if (qemuctime != qemuCaps->ctime ||
-        selfctime != virGetSelfLastChanged() ||
+    if (selfctime != virGetSelfLastChanged() ||
         selfvers != LIBVIR_VERSION_NUMBER) {
-        VIR_DEBUG("Outdated cached capabilities '%s' for '%s' "
-                  "(%lld vs %lld, %lld vs %lld, %lu vs %lu)",
-                  capsfile, qemuCaps->binary,
-                  (long long)qemuCaps->ctime, (long long)qemuctime,
+        VIR_DEBUG("Outdated capabilities for '%s': libvirt changed "
+                  "(%lld vs %lld, %lu vs %lu)",
+                  qemuCaps->binary,
                   (long long)selfctime, (long long)virGetSelfLastChanged(),
                   selfvers, (unsigned long)LIBVIR_VERSION_NUMBER);
-        ignore_value(unlink(capsfile));
-        virQEMUCapsReset(qemuCaps);
-        ret = 0;
-        goto cleanup;
+        goto discard;
     }
 
     VIR_DEBUG("Loaded '%s' for '%s' ctime %lld usedQMP=%d",
@@ -3524,6 +3520,14 @@ virQEMUCapsInitCached(virCapsPtr caps,
     VIR_FREE(capsfile);
     VIR_FREE(capsdir);
     return ret;
+
+ discard:
+    VIR_DEBUG("Dropping cached capabilities '%s' for '%s'",
+              capsfile, qemuCaps->binary);
+    ignore_value(unlink(capsfile));
+    virQEMUCapsReset(qemuCaps);
+    ret = 0;
+    goto cleanup;
 }
 
 
@@ -4076,17 +4080,35 @@ virQEMUCapsNewForBinary(virCapsPtr caps,
 }
 
 
-bool virQEMUCapsIsValid(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps)
+bool
+virQEMUCapsIsValid(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
+                   time_t ctime)
 {
-    struct stat sb;
-
     if (!qemuCaps->binary)
         return true;
 
-    if (stat(qemuCaps->binary, &sb) < 0)
-        return false;
+    if (!ctime) {
+        struct stat sb;
 
-    return sb.st_ctime == qemuCaps->ctime;
+        if (stat(qemuCaps->binary, &sb) < 0) {
+            char ebuf[1024];
+            VIR_DEBUG("Failed to stat QEMU binary '%s': %s",
+                      qemuCaps->binary,
+                      virStrerror(errno, ebuf, sizeof(ebuf)));
+            return false;
+        }
+        ctime = sb.st_ctime;
+    }
+
+    if (ctime != qemuCaps->ctime) {
+        VIR_DEBUG("Outdated capabilities for '%s': QEMU binary changed "
+                  "(%lld vs %lld)",
+                  qemuCaps->binary,
+                  (long long) ctime, (long long) qemuCaps->ctime);
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    return true;
 }
 
 
@@ -4179,7 +4201,7 @@ virQEMUCapsCacheLookup(virCapsPtr caps,
     virMutexLock(&cache->lock);
     ret = virHashLookup(cache->binaries, binary);
     if (ret &&
-        !virQEMUCapsIsValid(ret)) {
+        !virQEMUCapsIsValid(ret, 0)) {
         VIR_DEBUG("Cached capabilities %p no longer valid for %s",
                   ret, binary);
         virHashRemoveEntry(cache->binaries, binary);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
index 983ea75874..d1044043f6 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
@@ -451,7 +451,8 @@ int virQEMUCapsGetMachineTypesCaps(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
                                    size_t *nmachines,
                                    virCapsGuestMachinePtr **machines);
 
-bool virQEMUCapsIsValid(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps);
+bool virQEMUCapsIsValid(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
+                        time_t ctime);
 
 void virQEMUCapsFilterByMachineType(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
                                     const char *machineType);