diff --git a/tests/domaincapsschemadata/domaincaps-qemu_1.6.50-1.xml b/tests/domaincapsschemadata/domaincaps-qemu_1.6.50-1.xml
index 32f981db0c..1e73ff11c0 100644
--- a/tests/domaincapsschemadata/domaincaps-qemu_1.6.50-1.xml
+++ b/tests/domaincapsschemadata/domaincaps-qemu_1.6.50-1.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <domainCapabilities>
   <path>/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64</path>
   <domain>kvm</domain>
-  <machine>pc-1.2</machine>
+  <machine>pc-i440fx-1.7</machine>
   <arch>x86_64</arch>
   <vcpu max='255'/>
   <os supported='yes'>
diff --git a/tests/domaincapstest.c b/tests/domaincapstest.c
index f7a3868ff2..d9d110a932 100644
--- a/tests/domaincapstest.c
+++ b/tests/domaincapstest.c
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ static int
 fillQemuCaps(virDomainCapsPtr domCaps,
              const char *name,
              virArch arch,
+             const char *machine,
              virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg)
 {
     int ret = -1;
@@ -108,6 +109,16 @@ fillQemuCaps(virDomainCapsPtr domCaps,
         !(qemuCaps = qemuTestParseCapabilities(path)))
         goto cleanup;
 
+    if (machine &&
+        VIR_STRDUP(domCaps->machine,
+                   virQEMUCapsGetCanonicalMachine(qemuCaps, machine)) < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+
+    if (!domCaps->machine &&
+        VIR_STRDUP(domCaps->machine,
+                   virQEMUCapsGetDefaultMachine(qemuCaps)) < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+
     if (virQEMUCapsFillDomainCaps(domCaps, qemuCaps,
                                   cfg->loader, cfg->nloader) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
@@ -187,7 +198,7 @@ test_virDomainCapsFormat(const void *opaque)
 
     case CAPS_QEMU:
 #if WITH_QEMU
-        if (fillQemuCaps(domCaps, data->capsName, data->arch,
+        if (fillQemuCaps(domCaps, data->capsName, data->arch, data->machine,
                          data->capsOpaque) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
 #endif
@@ -258,8 +269,8 @@ mymain(void)
 #if WITH_QEMU
 
     DO_TEST_QEMU("qemu_1.6.50-1", "caps_1.6.50-1",
-                 "/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64", "pc-1.2", VIR_ARCH_X86_64,
-                 VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KVM);
+                 "/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64", NULL,
+                 VIR_ARCH_X86_64, VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KVM);
 
 #endif /* WITH_QEMU */