diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 5da63bf53e..9b50c6e249 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -900,6 +900,7 @@ VIR_ENUM_IMPL(virDomainLoader,
 
 VIR_ENUM_IMPL(virDomainIOAPIC,
               VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_LAST,
+              "none",
               "qemu",
               "kvm")
 
@@ -5913,8 +5914,7 @@ virDomainDefValidateInternal(const virDomainDef *def)
 
     if (def->iommu &&
         def->iommu->intremap == VIR_TRISTATE_SWITCH_ON &&
-        (def->features[VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_IOAPIC] != VIR_TRISTATE_SWITCH_ON ||
-         def->ioapic != VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_QEMU)) {
+        def->features[VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_IOAPIC] != VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_QEMU) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR, "%s",
                        _("IOMMU interrupt remapping requires split I/O APIC "
                          "(ioapic driver='qemu')"));
@@ -19224,14 +19224,13 @@ virDomainDefParseXML(xmlDocPtr xml,
             tmp = virXMLPropString(nodes[i], "driver");
             if (tmp) {
                 int value = virDomainIOAPICTypeFromString(tmp);
-                if (value < 0) {
+                if (value < 0 || value == VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_NONE) {
                     virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
                                    _("Unknown driver mode: %s"),
                                    tmp);
                     goto error;
                 }
-                def->ioapic = value;
-                def->features[val] = VIR_TRISTATE_SWITCH_ON;
+                def->features[val] = value;
                 VIR_FREE(tmp);
             }
             break;
@@ -21410,16 +21409,13 @@ virDomainDefFeaturesCheckABIStability(virDomainDefPtr src,
             break;
 
         case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_IOAPIC:
-            if (src->features[i] != dst->features[i] ||
-                src->ioapic != dst->ioapic) {
+            if (src->features[i] != dst->features[i]) {
                 virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
                                _("State of feature '%s' differs: "
-                                 "source: '%s,%s=%s', destination: '%s,%s=%s'"),
+                                 "source: '%s=%s', destination: '%s=%s'"),
                                featureName,
-                               virTristateSwitchTypeToString(src->features[i]),
-                               "driver", virDomainIOAPICTypeToString(src->ioapic),
-                               virTristateSwitchTypeToString(dst->features[i]),
-                               "driver", virDomainIOAPICTypeToString(dst->ioapic));
+                               "driver", virDomainIOAPICTypeToString(src->features[i]),
+                               "driver", virDomainIOAPICTypeToString(dst->features[i]));
                 return false;
             }
             break;
@@ -26945,10 +26941,11 @@ virDomainDefFormatInternal(virDomainDefPtr def,
                 break;
 
             case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_IOAPIC:
-                if (def->features[i] == VIR_TRISTATE_SWITCH_ON) {
-                    virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<ioapic driver='%s'/>\n",
-                                      virDomainIOAPICTypeToString(def->ioapic));
-                }
+                if (def->features[i] == VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_NONE)
+                    break;
+
+                virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<ioapic driver='%s'/>\n",
+                                  virDomainIOAPICTypeToString(def->features[i]));
                 break;
 
             case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_HPT:
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index 6cd81ef2de..f5fbe1d973 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -1861,7 +1861,8 @@ struct _virDomainLoaderDef {
 void virDomainLoaderDefFree(virDomainLoaderDefPtr loader);
 
 typedef enum {
-    VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_QEMU = 0,
+    VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_NONE = 0,
+    VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_QEMU,
     VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_KVM,
 
     VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_LAST
@@ -2352,21 +2353,18 @@ struct _virDomainDef {
 
     virDomainOSDef os;
     char *emulator;
-    /* These three options are of type virTristateSwitch,
-     * except VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_CAPABILITIES that is of type
-     * virDomainCapabilitiesPolicy */
+    /* Most {caps_,hyperv_,kvm_,}feature options utilize a virTristateSwitch
+     * to handle support. A few assign specific data values to the option.
+     * See virDomainDefFeaturesCheckABIStability() for details. */
     int features[VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_LAST];
-    int apic_eoi;
+    int caps_features[VIR_DOMAIN_CAPS_FEATURE_LAST];
     int hyperv_features[VIR_DOMAIN_HYPERV_LAST];
     int kvm_features[VIR_DOMAIN_KVM_LAST];
     unsigned int hyperv_spinlocks;
     virGICVersion gic_version;
     char *hyperv_vendor_id;
-    virDomainIOAPIC ioapic;
     virDomainHPTResizing hpt_resizing;
-
-    /* These options are of type virTristateSwitch: ON = keep, OFF = drop */
-    int caps_features[VIR_DOMAIN_CAPS_FEATURE_LAST];
+    int apic_eoi;
 
     virDomainClockDef clock;
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 27736801db..ed19817c9a 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -7223,14 +7223,14 @@ qemuBuildMachineCommandLine(virCommandPtr cmd,
             }
         }
 
-        if (def->features[VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_IOAPIC] == VIR_TRISTATE_SWITCH_ON) {
+        if (def->features[VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_IOAPIC] != VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_NONE) {
             if (!virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_MACHINE_KERNEL_IRQCHIP)) {
                 virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
                                _("I/O APIC tuning is not supported by this "
                                  "QEMU binary"));
                 goto cleanup;
             }
-            switch (def->ioapic) {
+            switch ((virDomainIOAPIC) def->features[VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_IOAPIC]) {
             case VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_QEMU:
                 if (!virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_MACHINE_KERNEL_IRQCHIP_SPLIT)) {
                     virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
@@ -7243,6 +7243,7 @@ qemuBuildMachineCommandLine(virCommandPtr cmd,
             case VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_KVM:
                 virBufferAddLit(&buf, ",kernel_irqchip=on");
                 break;
+            case VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_NONE:
             case VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_LAST:
                 break;
             }
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index e943c67554..eeb9691ca4 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -3320,7 +3320,7 @@ qemuDomainDefValidateFeatures(const virDomainDef *def)
 
         switch ((virDomainFeature) i) {
         case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_IOAPIC:
-            if (def->features[i] == VIR_TRISTATE_SWITCH_ON &&
+            if (def->features[i] != VIR_DOMAIN_IOAPIC_NONE &&
                 !ARCH_IS_X86(def->os.arch)) {
                 virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
                                _("The '%s' feature is not supported for "