diff --git a/include/libvirt/libvirt.h.in b/include/libvirt/libvirt.h.in
index aa64fa5948..765488413f 100644
--- a/include/libvirt/libvirt.h.in
+++ b/include/libvirt/libvirt.h.in
@@ -2596,7 +2596,8 @@ int virDomainRevertToSnapshot(virDomainSnapshotPtr snapshot,
 
 /* Delete a snapshot */
 typedef enum {
-    VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_CHILDREN = (1 << 0),
+    VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_CHILDREN      = (1 << 0), /* Also delete children */
+    VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_METADATA_ONLY = (1 << 1), /* Delete just metadata */
 } virDomainSnapshotDeleteFlags;
 
 int virDomainSnapshotDelete(virDomainSnapshotPtr snapshot,
diff --git a/src/esx/esx_driver.c b/src/esx/esx_driver.c
index e6033994e5..846a777b96 100644
--- a/src/esx/esx_driver.c
+++ b/src/esx/esx_driver.c
@@ -4543,7 +4543,8 @@ esxDomainSnapshotDelete(virDomainSnapshotPtr snapshot, unsigned int flags)
     esxVI_TaskInfoState taskInfoState;
     char *taskInfoErrorMessage = NULL;
 
-    virCheckFlags(VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_CHILDREN, -1);
+    virCheckFlags(VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_CHILDREN |
+                  VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_METADATA_ONLY, -1);
 
     if (esxVI_EnsureSession(priv->primary) < 0) {
         return -1;
@@ -4561,6 +4562,13 @@ esxDomainSnapshotDelete(virDomainSnapshotPtr snapshot, unsigned int flags)
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
+    /* ESX snapshots do not require any libvirt metadata, making this
+     * flag trivial once we know we have a valid snapshot.  */
+    if (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_METADATA_ONLY) {
+        result = 0;
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     if (esxVI_RemoveSnapshot_Task(priv->primary, snapshotTree->snapshot,
                                   removeChildren, &task) < 0 ||
         esxVI_WaitForTaskCompletion(priv->primary, task, snapshot->domain->uuid,
diff --git a/src/libvirt.c b/src/libvirt.c
index 8e569ab8bd..0f3399c822 100644
--- a/src/libvirt.c
+++ b/src/libvirt.c
@@ -15962,14 +15962,18 @@ error:
 /**
  * virDomainSnapshotDelete:
  * @snapshot: a domain snapshot object
- * @flags: flag parameters
+ * @flags: bitwise-or of supported virDomainSnapshotDeleteFlags
  *
  * Delete the snapshot.
  *
  * If @flags is 0, then just this snapshot is deleted, and changes from
  * this snapshot are automatically merged into children snapshots.  If
- * flags is VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_CHILDREN, then this snapshot
- * and any children snapshots are deleted.
+ * @flags includes VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_CHILDREN, then this snapshot
+ * and any children snapshots are deleted.  If @flags includes
+ * VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_METADATA_ONLY, then any snapshot metadata
+ * tracked by libvirt is removed while keeping the snapshot contents
+ * intact; if a hypervisor does not require any libvirt metadata to
+ * track snapshots, then this flag is silently ignored.
  *
  * Returns 0 if the snapshot was successfully deleted, -1 on error.
  */
diff --git a/src/vbox/vbox_tmpl.c b/src/vbox/vbox_tmpl.c
index 822e8992b3..8de2bae8ce 100644
--- a/src/vbox/vbox_tmpl.c
+++ b/src/vbox/vbox_tmpl.c
@@ -6361,7 +6361,8 @@ vboxDomainSnapshotDelete(virDomainSnapshotPtr snapshot,
     PRUint32 state;
     nsresult rc;
 
-    virCheckFlags(VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_CHILDREN, -1);
+    virCheckFlags(VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_CHILDREN |
+                  VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_METADATA_ONLY, -1);
 
     vboxIIDFromUUID(&domiid, dom->uuid);
     rc = VBOX_OBJECT_GET_MACHINE(domiid.value, &machine);
@@ -6382,6 +6383,13 @@ vboxDomainSnapshotDelete(virDomainSnapshotPtr snapshot,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
+    /* VBOX snapshots do not require any libvirt metadata, making this
+     * flag trivial once we know we have a valid snapshot.  */
+    if (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_METADATA_ONLY) {
+        ret = 0;
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     if (state >= MachineState_FirstOnline
         && state <= MachineState_LastOnline) {
         vboxError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_INVALID, "%s",