diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index e4dd263bf4..28f4ecdced 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -1059,6 +1059,7 @@ VIR_ENUM_IMPL(virDomainMemoryAllocation, VIR_DOMAIN_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_LAST,
 
 VIR_ENUM_IMPL(virDomainLoader,
               VIR_DOMAIN_LOADER_TYPE_LAST,
+              "none",
               "rom",
               "pflash",
 );
@@ -4305,6 +4306,20 @@ virDomainDefPostParseMemory(virDomainDefPtr def,
 }
 
 
+static void
+virDomainDefPostParseOs(virDomainDefPtr def)
+{
+    if (!def->os.loader)
+        return;
+
+    if (def->os.loader->path &&
+        def->os.loader->type == VIR_DOMAIN_LOADER_TYPE_NONE) {
+        /* By default, loader is type of 'rom' */
+        def->os.loader->type = VIR_DOMAIN_LOADER_TYPE_ROM;
+    }
+}
+
+
 static void
 virDomainDefPostParseMemtune(virDomainDefPtr def)
 {
@@ -5480,6 +5495,8 @@ virDomainDefPostParseCommon(virDomainDefPtr def,
     if (virDomainDefPostParseMemory(def, data->parseFlags) < 0)
         return -1;
 
+    virDomainDefPostParseOs(def);
+
     virDomainDefPostParseMemtune(def);
 
     if (virDomainDefRejectDuplicateControllers(def) < 0)
@@ -18280,7 +18297,7 @@ virDomainLoaderDefParseXML(xmlNodePtr node,
 
     if (type_str) {
         int type;
-        if ((type = virDomainLoaderTypeFromString(type_str)) < 0) {
+        if ((type = virDomainLoaderTypeFromString(type_str)) <= 0) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_DETAIL,
                            _("unknown type value: %s"), type_str);
             return -1;
@@ -27007,12 +27024,14 @@ virDomainLoaderDefFormat(virBufferPtr buf,
     if (loader->secure)
         virBufferAsprintf(buf, " secure='%s'", secure);
 
-    virBufferAsprintf(buf, " type='%s'", type);
+    if (loader->type != VIR_DOMAIN_LOADER_TYPE_NONE)
+        virBufferAsprintf(buf, " type='%s'", type);
 
     if (loader->path)
         virBufferEscapeString(buf, ">%s</loader>\n", loader->path);
     else
         virBufferAddLit(buf, "/>\n");
+
     if (loader->nvram || loader->templt) {
         virBufferAddLit(buf, "<nvram");
         virBufferEscapeString(buf, " template='%s'", loader->templt);
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index c2dcc87ba1..ed5d00c399 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -1954,7 +1954,8 @@ struct _virDomainBIOSDef {
 };
 
 typedef enum {
-    VIR_DOMAIN_LOADER_TYPE_ROM = 0,
+    VIR_DOMAIN_LOADER_TYPE_NONE = 0,
+    VIR_DOMAIN_LOADER_TYPE_ROM,
     VIR_DOMAIN_LOADER_TYPE_PFLASH,
 
     VIR_DOMAIN_LOADER_TYPE_LAST
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 3a2ec7f26c..5e56447b76 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -9967,6 +9967,7 @@ qemuBuildDomainLoaderCommandLine(virCommandPtr cmd,
         }
         break;
 
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_LOADER_TYPE_NONE:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_LOADER_TYPE_LAST:
         /* nada */
         break;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index bec702a0ad..6326b69401 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -12280,6 +12280,7 @@ qemuDomainSetupLoader(virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
                 goto cleanup;
             break;
 
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_LOADER_TYPE_NONE:
         case VIR_DOMAIN_LOADER_TYPE_LAST:
             break;
         }
diff --git a/tests/domaincapsschemadata/full.xml b/tests/domaincapsschemadata/full.xml
index 28263466a4..74bc740e0d 100644
--- a/tests/domaincapsschemadata/full.xml
+++ b/tests/domaincapsschemadata/full.xml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
       <value>/foo/bar</value>
       <value>/tmp/my_path</value>
       <enum name='type'>
+        <value>none</value>
         <value>rom</value>
         <value>pflash</value>
       </enum>