diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 11bd2c2e47..9e5872ed28 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ static int qemudStartVMDaemon(virConnectPtr conn,
                               struct qemud_driver *driver,
                               virDomainObjPtr vm,
                               const char *migrateFrom,
+                              bool start_paused,
                               int stdin_fd,
                               const char *stdin_path);
 
@@ -3302,6 +3303,7 @@ static int qemudStartVMDaemon(virConnectPtr conn,
                               struct qemud_driver *driver,
                               virDomainObjPtr vm,
                               const char *migrateFrom,
+                              bool start_paused,
                               int stdin_fd,
                               const char *stdin_path) {
     const char **argv = NULL, **tmp;
@@ -3553,7 +3555,9 @@ static int qemudStartVMDaemon(virConnectPtr conn,
         ret = 0;
     }
 
-    vm->state = migrateFrom ? VIR_DOMAIN_PAUSED : VIR_DOMAIN_RUNNING;
+    if (migrateFrom)
+        start_paused = true;
+    vm->state = start_paused ? VIR_DOMAIN_PAUSED : VIR_DOMAIN_RUNNING;
 
     for (i = 0 ; argv[i] ; i++)
         VIR_FREE(argv[i]);
@@ -3603,7 +3607,7 @@ static int qemudStartVMDaemon(virConnectPtr conn,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    if (migrateFrom == NULL) {
+    if (!start_paused) {
         DEBUG0("Starting domain CPUs");
         /* Allow the CPUS to start executing */
         if (qemuMonitorStartCPUs(priv->mon, conn) < 0) {
@@ -4188,7 +4192,7 @@ static virDomainPtr qemudDomainCreate(virConnectPtr conn, const char *xml,
     virDomainPtr dom = NULL;
     virDomainEventPtr event = NULL;
 
-    virCheckFlags(0, NULL);
+    virCheckFlags(VIR_DOMAIN_START_PAUSED, NULL);
 
     qemuDriverLock(driver);
     if (!(def = virDomainDefParseString(driver->caps, xml,
@@ -4217,7 +4221,9 @@ static virDomainPtr qemudDomainCreate(virConnectPtr conn, const char *xml,
     if (qemuDomainObjBeginJobWithDriver(driver, vm) < 0)
         goto cleanup; /* XXXX free the 'vm' we created ? */
 
-    if (qemudStartVMDaemon(conn, driver, vm, NULL, -1, NULL) < 0) {
+    if (qemudStartVMDaemon(conn, driver, vm, NULL,
+                           (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_START_PAUSED) != 0,
+                           -1, NULL) < 0) {
         if (qemuDomainObjEndJob(vm) > 0)
             virDomainRemoveInactive(&driver->domains,
                                     vm);
@@ -6233,7 +6239,7 @@ qemudDomainSaveImageStartVM(virConnectPtr conn,
     }
 
     /* Set the migration source and start it up. */
-    ret = qemudStartVMDaemon(conn, driver, vm, "stdio", fd, path);
+    ret = qemudStartVMDaemon(conn, driver, vm, "stdio", true, fd, path);
 
     if (intermediate_pid != -1) {
         /* Wait for intermediate process to exit */
@@ -6692,7 +6698,7 @@ static int qemudDomainObjStart(virConnectPtr conn,
             goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    ret = qemudStartVMDaemon(conn, driver, vm, NULL, -1, NULL);
+    ret = qemudStartVMDaemon(conn, driver, vm, NULL, false, -1, NULL);
     if (ret != -1) {
         virDomainEventPtr event =
             virDomainEventNewFromObj(vm,
@@ -10185,7 +10191,8 @@ qemudDomainMigratePrepareTunnel(virConnectPtr dconn,
     /* Start the QEMU daemon, with the same command-line arguments plus
      * -incoming unix:/path/to/file or exec:nc -U /path/to/file
      */
-    internalret = qemudStartVMDaemon(dconn, driver, vm, migrateFrom, -1, NULL);
+    internalret = qemudStartVMDaemon(dconn, driver, vm, migrateFrom, true,
+                                     -1, NULL);
     VIR_FREE(migrateFrom);
     if (internalret < 0) {
         /* Note that we don't set an error here because qemudStartVMDaemon
@@ -10403,7 +10410,8 @@ qemudDomainMigratePrepare2 (virConnectPtr dconn,
      * -incoming tcp:0.0.0.0:port
      */
     snprintf (migrateFrom, sizeof (migrateFrom), "tcp:0.0.0.0:%d", this_port);
-    if (qemudStartVMDaemon (dconn, driver, vm, migrateFrom, -1, NULL) < 0) {
+    if (qemudStartVMDaemon (dconn, driver, vm, migrateFrom, true,
+                            -1, NULL) < 0) {
         /* Note that we don't set an error here because qemudStartVMDaemon
          * should have already done that.
          */
@@ -11891,7 +11899,7 @@ static int qemuDomainRevertToSnapshot(virDomainSnapshotPtr snapshot,
                 goto endjob;
 
             rc = qemudStartVMDaemon(snapshot->domain->conn, driver, vm, NULL,
-                                    -1, NULL);
+                                    false, -1, NULL);
             if (qemuDomainSnapshotSetInactive(vm, driver->snapshotDir) < 0)
                 goto endjob;
             if (rc < 0)