diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 6213fd9f31..404489c9c9 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -1249,11 +1249,23 @@ qemuDomainDeviceDefPostParse(virDomainDeviceDefPtr dev,
         dev->data.chr->deviceType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_DEVICE_TYPE_CHANNEL &&
         dev->data.chr->targetType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_VIRTIO &&
         dev->data.chr->source.type == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_UNIX &&
-        !dev->data.chr->source.data.nix.path && cfg) {
-        if (virAsprintf(&dev->data.chr->source.data.nix.path, "%s/%s.%s",
-                        cfg->channelTargetDir,
-                        def->name, dev->data.chr->target.name) < 0)
+        !dev->data.chr->source.data.nix.path) {
+        if (!cfg) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                           _("cannot generate UNIX socket path"));
             goto cleanup;
+        }
+
+        if (dev->data.chr->target.name) {
+            if (virAsprintf(&dev->data.chr->source.data.nix.path, "%s/%s.%s",
+                            cfg->channelTargetDir,
+                            def->name, dev->data.chr->target.name) < 0)
+                goto cleanup;
+        } else {
+            if (virAsprintf(&dev->data.chr->source.data.nix.path, "%s/%s",
+                            cfg->channelTargetDir, def->name) < 0)
+                goto cleanup;
+        }
 
         dev->data.chr->source.data.nix.listen = true;
     }
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-channel-virtio-unix.args b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-channel-virtio-unix.args
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..43a34ced80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-channel-virtio-unix.args
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+LC_ALL=C PATH=/bin HOME=/home/test USER=test LOGNAME=test QEMU_AUDIO_DRV=none \
+/usr/bin/qemu -S -M pc -m 214 -smp 1 -nographic -nodefconfig -nodefaults \
+-chardev socket,id=charmonitor,path=/tmp/test-monitor,server,nowait \
+-mon chardev=charmonitor,id=monitor,mode=readline \
+-no-acpi \
+-boot c \
+-device virtio-serial-pci,id=virtio-serial1,bus=pci.0,addr=0xa \
+-device virtio-serial-pci,id=virtio-serial0,bus=pci.0,addr=0x3 \
+-usb \
+-hda /dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest1 \
+-chardev socket,id=charchannel0,path=\
+/tmp/QEMUGuest1.org.qemu.guest_agent.0,server,nowait \
+-device virtserialport,bus=virtio-serial0.0,nr=1,chardev=charchannel0,id=channel0,\
+name=org.qemu.guest_agent.0 \
+-chardev socket,id=charchannel1,path=/tmp/QEMUGuest1,server,nowait \
+-device virtserialport,bus=virtio-serial0.0,nr=2,chardev=charchannel1,id=channel1 \
+-chardev socket,id=charchannel2,path=/tmp/QEMUGuest1.ble,server,nowait \
+-device virtserialport,bus=virtio-serial0.0,nr=3,chardev=charchannel2,id=channel2,\
+name=ble
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-channel-virtio-unix.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-channel-virtio-unix.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7fac943389
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-channel-virtio-unix.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>219136</memory>
+  <vcpu placement='static' cpuset='1-4,8-20,525'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='i686' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='hd'/>
+  </os>
+  <clock offset='utc'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu</emulator>
+    <disk type='block' device='disk'>
+      <source dev='/dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest1'/>
+      <target dev='hda' bus='ide'/>
+      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' target='0' unit='0'/>
+    </disk>
+    <controller type='usb' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='ide' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='virtio-serial' index='1'>
+      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x0a' function='0x0'/>
+    </controller>
+    <channel type='unix'>
+      <target type='virtio' name='org.qemu.guest_agent.0'/>
+    </channel>
+    <channel type='unix'>
+      <target type='virtio'/>
+    </channel>
+    <channel type='unix'>
+      <target type='virtio' name='ble'/>
+    </channel>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index f85f63b333..574777b998 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -519,6 +519,9 @@ mymain(void)
     driver.config->spiceTLS = 1;
     if (VIR_STRDUP_QUIET(driver.config->spicePassword, "123456") < 0)
         return EXIT_FAILURE;
+    VIR_FREE(driver.config->channelTargetDir);
+    if (VIR_STRDUP_QUIET(driver.config->channelTargetDir, "/tmp") < 0)
+        return EXIT_FAILURE;
 
 # define DO_TEST_FULL(name, migrateFrom, migrateFd, flags, ...)         \
     do {                                                                \
@@ -1113,6 +1116,8 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST("channel-virtio-default",
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE, QEMU_CAPS_CHARDEV, QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG,
             QEMU_CAPS_SPICE, QEMU_CAPS_CHARDEV_SPICEVMC);
+    DO_TEST("channel-virtio-unix",
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE, QEMU_CAPS_CHARDEV, QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG);
 
     DO_TEST("smartcard-host",
             QEMU_CAPS_CHARDEV, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE,