diff --git a/src/qemu/libvirtd_qemu.aug b/src/qemu/libvirtd_qemu.aug
index 3c1045858b..0f18775121 100644
--- a/src/qemu/libvirtd_qemu.aug
+++ b/src/qemu/libvirtd_qemu.aug
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ module Libvirtd_qemu =
 
    let debug_level_entry = int_entry "gluster_debug_level"
                  | bool_entry "virtiofsd_debug"
+                 | str_entry "deprecation_behavior"
 
    let memory_entry = str_entry "memory_backing_dir"
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu.conf b/src/qemu/qemu.conf
index 0c1054f198..8722dc169c 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu.conf
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu.conf
@@ -922,3 +922,34 @@
 # may change across versions.
 #
 #capability_filters = [ "capname" ]
+
+# 'deprecation_behavior' setting controls how the qemu process behaves towards
+# deprecated commands and arguments used by libvirt.
+#
+# This setting is meant for developers and CI efforts to make it obvious when
+# libvirt relies on fields which are deprecated so that it can be fixes as soon
+# as possible.
+#
+# Possible options are:
+# "none"   - (default) qemu is supposed to accept and output deprecated fields
+#            and commands
+# "omit"   - qemu is instructed to omit deprecated fields on output, behaviour
+#            towards fields and commands from qemu is not changed
+# "reject" - qemu is instructed to report an error if a deprecated command or
+#            field is used by libvirtd
+# "crash"  - qemu crashes when an deprecated command or field is used by libvirtd
+#
+# For both "reject" and "crash" qemu is instructed to omit any deprecated fields
+# on output.
+#
+# The "reject" option is less harsh towards the VMs but some code paths ignore
+# errors reported by qemu and thus it may not be obvious that a deprecated
+# command/field was used, thus it's suggested to use the "crash" option instead.
+#
+# In cases when qemu doesn't support configuring the behaviour this setting is
+# silently ignored to allow testing older qemu versions without having to
+# reconfigure libvirtd.
+#
+# DO NOT use in production.
+#
+#deprecation_behavior = "none"
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
index d652bf22b1..77fd7f6df7 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
@@ -380,6 +380,8 @@ static void virQEMUDriverConfigDispose(void *obj)
     g_free(cfg->swtpmStorageDir);
 
     g_strfreev(cfg->capabilityfilters);
+
+    g_free(cfg->deprecationBehavior);
 }
 
 
@@ -869,6 +871,8 @@ virQEMUDriverConfigLoadDebugEntry(virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
         return -1;
     if (virConfGetValueBool(conf, "virtiofsd_debug", &cfg->virtiofsdDebug) < 0)
         return -1;
+    if (virConfGetValueString(conf, "deprecation_behavior", &cfg->deprecationBehavior) < 0)
+        return -1;
 
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
index 7025b5222e..e62cd88950 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
@@ -223,6 +223,8 @@ struct _virQEMUDriverConfig {
     gid_t swtpm_group;
 
     char **capabilityfilters;
+
+    char *deprecationBehavior;
 };
 
 G_DEFINE_AUTOPTR_CLEANUP_FUNC(virQEMUDriverConfig, virObjectUnref);
diff --git a/src/qemu/test_libvirtd_qemu.aug.in b/src/qemu/test_libvirtd_qemu.aug.in
index 9310dcec1c..20a89ade32 100644
--- a/src/qemu/test_libvirtd_qemu.aug.in
+++ b/src/qemu/test_libvirtd_qemu.aug.in
@@ -115,3 +115,4 @@ module Test_libvirtd_qemu =
 { "capability_filters"
     { "1" = "capname" }
 }
+{ "deprecation_behavior" = "none" }