diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 225d1d7491..7008f14028 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -8410,13 +8410,6 @@ qemuBuildShmemDevLegacyStr(virDomainDefPtr def,
 {
     g_auto(virBuffer) buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
 
-    if (!virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IVSHMEM)) {
-        virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
-                       _("ivshmem device is not supported "
-                         "with this QEMU binary"));
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
     virBufferAddLit(&buf, "ivshmem");
     virBufferAsprintf(&buf, ",id=%s", shmem->info.alias);
 
@@ -8450,17 +8443,6 @@ qemuBuildShmemDevStr(virDomainDefPtr def,
 {
     g_auto(virBuffer) buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
 
-    if ((shmem->model == VIR_DOMAIN_SHMEM_MODEL_IVSHMEM_PLAIN &&
-         !virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IVSHMEM_PLAIN)) ||
-        (shmem->model == VIR_DOMAIN_SHMEM_MODEL_IVSHMEM_DOORBELL &&
-         !virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IVSHMEM_DOORBELL))) {
-            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
-                           _("shmem model '%s' is not supported "
-                             "by this QEMU binary"),
-                           virDomainShmemModelTypeToString(shmem->model));
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
     virBufferAdd(&buf, virDomainShmemModelTypeToString(shmem->model), -1);
     virBufferAsprintf(&buf, ",id=%s", shmem->info.alias);
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c b/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
index f24e58c5ed..3df615a84d 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
@@ -4398,6 +4398,44 @@ qemuValidateDomainDeviceDefMemory(virDomainMemoryDefPtr mem,
 }
 
 
+static int
+qemuValidateDomainDeviceDefShmem(virDomainShmemDefPtr shmem,
+                                 virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps)
+{
+    switch (shmem->model) {
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_SHMEM_MODEL_IVSHMEM:
+        if (!virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IVSHMEM)) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                           _("ivshmem device is not supported "
+                             "with this QEMU binary"));
+            return -1;
+        }
+        break;
+
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_SHMEM_MODEL_IVSHMEM_PLAIN:
+        if (!virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IVSHMEM_PLAIN)) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
+                           _("shmem model '%s' is not supported "
+                             "by this QEMU binary"),
+                           virDomainShmemModelTypeToString(shmem->model));
+            return -1;
+        }
+        break;
+
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_SHMEM_MODEL_IVSHMEM_DOORBELL:
+        if (!virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IVSHMEM_DOORBELL)) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
+                           _("shmem model '%s' is not supported "
+                             "by this QEMU binary"),
+                           virDomainShmemModelTypeToString(shmem->model));
+            return -1;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
 int
 qemuValidateDomainDeviceDef(const virDomainDeviceDef *dev,
                             const virDomainDef *def,
@@ -4512,8 +4550,11 @@ qemuValidateDomainDeviceDef(const virDomainDeviceDef *dev,
         ret = qemuValidateDomainDeviceDefMemory(dev->data.memory, qemuCaps);
         break;
 
-    case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_LEASE:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_SHMEM:
+        ret = qemuValidateDomainDeviceDefShmem(dev->data.shmem, qemuCaps);
+        break;
+
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_LEASE:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_PANIC:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_AUDIO:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_NONE:
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index 67e29ba085..6c3104b256 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -2946,7 +2946,7 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST("shmem-plain-doorbell", QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IVSHMEM,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IVSHMEM_PLAIN,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IVSHMEM_DOORBELL);
-    DO_TEST_FAILURE("shmem", NONE);
+    DO_TEST_PARSE_ERROR("shmem", NONE);
     DO_TEST_FAILURE("shmem-invalid-size",
                     QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IVSHMEM);
     DO_TEST_FAILURE("shmem-invalid-address",
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
index 93287d0a55..a897dfe17a 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
@@ -1148,7 +1148,7 @@ mymain(void)
 
     DO_TEST("tap-vhost", NONE);
     DO_TEST("tap-vhost-incorrect", NONE);
-    DO_TEST("shmem", NONE);
+    DO_TEST("shmem", QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IVSHMEM);
     DO_TEST("shmem-plain-doorbell",
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IVSHMEM_PLAIN, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IVSHMEM_DOORBELL);
     DO_TEST("smbios", NONE);