diff --git a/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng b/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng
index c5f101325e..c64544ac47 100644
--- a/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng
+++ b/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng
@@ -3633,7 +3633,11 @@
 
   <define name="shmem">
     <element name="shmem">
-      <attribute name="name"/>
+      <attribute name="name">
+        <data type="string">
+          <param name="pattern">[^/]*</param>
+        </data>
+      </attribute>
       <interleave>
         <optional>
           <element name="model">
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 522f49d8b7..8508a6dee9 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -4589,6 +4589,25 @@ qemuProcessStartValidateIOThreads(virDomainObjPtr vm,
 }
 
 
+qemuProcessStartValidateShmem(virDomainObjPtr vm)
+{
+    size_t i;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < vm->def->nshmems; i++) {
+        virDomainShmemDefPtr shmem = vm->def->shmems[i];
+
+        if (strchr(shmem->name, '/')) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
+                           _("shmem name '%s' must not contain '/'"),
+                           shmem->name);
+            return -1;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
 static int
 qemuProcessStartValidateXML(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
                             virDomainObjPtr vm,
@@ -4668,6 +4687,9 @@ qemuProcessStartValidate(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
     if (qemuProcessStartValidateIOThreads(vm, qemuCaps) < 0)
         return -1;
 
+    if (qemuProcessStartValidateShmem(vm) < 0)
+        return -1;
+
     VIR_DEBUG("Checking for any possible (non-fatal) issues");
 
     qemuProcessStartWarnShmem(vm);