diff --git a/scripts/apibuild.py b/scripts/apibuild.py
index 58ae76d29c..b94c0f6c09 100755
--- a/scripts/apibuild.py
+++ b/scripts/apibuild.py
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ ignored_words = {
 
 ignored_functions = {
     "virConnectSupportsFeature": "private function for remote access",
+    "virDomainMigrateCheckNotLocal": "private function for migration",
     "virDomainMigrateFinish": "private function for migration",
     "virDomainMigrateFinish2": "private function for migration",
     "virDomainMigratePerform": "private function for migration",
diff --git a/src/libvirt-domain.c b/src/libvirt-domain.c
index ad60a92da8..da5a21e4c4 100644
--- a/src/libvirt-domain.c
+++ b/src/libvirt-domain.c
@@ -3269,8 +3269,7 @@ virDomainMigrateVersion3Params(virDomainPtr domain,
                                         params, nparams, true, flags);
 }
 
-
-static int
+int
 virDomainMigrateCheckNotLocal(const char *dconnuri)
 {
     g_autoptr(virURI) tempuri = NULL;
diff --git a/src/libvirt_internal.h b/src/libvirt_internal.h
index 72c61274a7..cb239b3c1c 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_internal.h
+++ b/src/libvirt_internal.h
@@ -129,6 +129,8 @@ typedef enum {
 
 int virConnectSupportsFeature(virConnectPtr conn, int feature);
 
+int virDomainMigrateCheckNotLocal(const char *dconnuri);
+
 int virDomainMigratePrepare (virConnectPtr dconn,
                              char **cookie,
                              int *cookielen,
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 5736a2dbd3..1272ac6506 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -1481,6 +1481,7 @@ virHostdevUpdateActiveUSBDevices;
 virConnectSupportsFeature;
 virDomainMigrateBegin3;
 virDomainMigrateBegin3Params;
+virDomainMigrateCheckNotLocal;
 virDomainMigrateConfirm3;
 virDomainMigrateConfirm3Params;
 virDomainMigrateFinish;
diff --git a/tests/meson.build b/tests/meson.build
index ad13e2de60..0a204c46e4 100644
--- a/tests/meson.build
+++ b/tests/meson.build
@@ -335,6 +335,7 @@ tests += [
   { 'name': 'virtypedparamtest' },
   { 'name': 'viruritest' },
   { 'name': 'vshtabletest', 'link_with': [ libvirt_shell_lib ] },
+  { 'name': 'virmigtest' },
 ]
 
 if host_machine.system() == 'linux'
diff --git a/tests/virmigtest.c b/tests/virmigtest.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..df8d51bab9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/virmigtest.c
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2020 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library.  If not, see
+ * <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#include <config.h>
+
+#include "libvirt_internal.h"
+
+#include "testutils.h"
+#include "virlog.h"
+#include "viruri.h"
+
+#define VIR_FROM_THIS VIR_FROM_RPC
+
+VIR_LOG_INIT("tests.migtest");
+
+struct migLocalData {
+    const char *uri;
+    bool fail;
+};
+
+
+static int
+testMigNotLocal(const void *args)
+{
+    int ret = -1;
+    const struct migLocalData *data = args;
+
+    ret = virDomainMigrateCheckNotLocal(data->uri);
+
+    if (ret == -1) {
+        if (data->fail) {
+            virResetLastError();
+            return 0;
+        }
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (data->fail) {
+        VIR_TEST_DEBUG("passed instead of expected failure");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
+
+static int
+mymain(void)
+{
+    int ret = 0;
+
+#define TEST_FULL(uri, fail) \
+    do  { \
+        const struct migLocalData data = { \
+            uri, fail \
+        }; \
+        if (virTestRun("Test URI " # uri, testMigNotLocal, &data) < 0) \
+            ret = -1; \
+    } while (0)
+
+#define TEST(uri) TEST_FULL(uri, false)
+#define TEST_FAIL(uri) TEST_FULL(uri, true)
+
+    TEST_FAIL("qemu:///system");
+
+    TEST_FAIL("//localhost");
+    TEST_FAIL("tcp://localhost.localdomain/");
+
+    TEST("scheme://some.cryptorandom.fqdn.tld");
+
+    TEST_FAIL("hehe+unix:///?socket=/path/to/some-sock");
+
+    return ret == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE;
+}
+
+VIR_TEST_MAIN(mymain)