diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_alias.c b/src/qemu/qemu_alias.c
index d0ca15bae2..95d1e0370a 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_alias.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_alias.c
@@ -612,7 +612,8 @@ qemuAssignDeviceAliases(virDomainDefPtr def, virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps)
         if (qemuAssignDeviceWatchdogAlias(def->watchdog) < 0)
             return -1;
     }
-    if (def->memballoon) {
+    if (def->memballoon &&
+        def->memballoon->model != VIR_DOMAIN_MEMBALLOON_MODEL_NONE) {
         if (qemuAssingDeviceMemballoonAlias(def->memballoon, 0) < 0)
             return -1;
     }
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live+ccw-virtio.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live+ccw-virtio.xml
index 75948f324e..f501cde333 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live+ccw-virtio.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live+ccw-virtio.xml
@@ -50,9 +50,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
     <panic model='s390'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-2-ccw-virtio+ccw-virtio-1-reverse.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-2-ccw-virtio+ccw-virtio-1-reverse.xml
index bb9d427c2f..223e929ad5 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-2-ccw-virtio+ccw-virtio-1-reverse.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-2-ccw-virtio+ccw-virtio-1-reverse.xml
@@ -60,9 +60,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
     <panic model='s390'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-2-ccw-virtio.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-2-ccw-virtio.xml
index c41f5affdd..c745d48558 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-2-ccw-virtio.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-2-ccw-virtio.xml
@@ -50,9 +50,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
     <panic model='s390'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-ccw-virtio+ccw-virtio-2-explicit.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-ccw-virtio+ccw-virtio-2-explicit.xml
index b1114dba9b..3189294b65 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-ccw-virtio+ccw-virtio-2-explicit.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-ccw-virtio+ccw-virtio-2-explicit.xml
@@ -59,9 +59,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
     <panic model='s390'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-ccw-virtio+ccw-virtio-2.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-ccw-virtio+ccw-virtio-2.xml
index b1114dba9b..3189294b65 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-ccw-virtio+ccw-virtio-2.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-ccw-virtio+ccw-virtio-2.xml
@@ -59,9 +59,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
     <panic model='s390'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-ccw-virtio.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-ccw-virtio.xml
index 3476f61db5..edf57fcd3f 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-ccw-virtio.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live-with-ccw-virtio.xml
@@ -49,9 +49,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
     <panic model='s390'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live.xml
index 3a202d069e..b97bba78c6 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-ccw-live.xml
@@ -40,9 +40,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
     <panic model='s390'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-scsi-wwn+disk-scsi-duplicate-wwn.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-scsi-wwn+disk-scsi-duplicate-wwn.xml
index 4c3ea3202b..035ec25304 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-scsi-wwn+disk-scsi-duplicate-wwn.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-scsi-wwn+disk-scsi-duplicate-wwn.xml
@@ -66,9 +66,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
 </domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-scsi.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-scsi.xml
index 493a615fd3..dd65a48057 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-scsi.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-scsi.xml
@@ -54,9 +54,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
 </domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-usb.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-usb.xml
index 3609819ea3..c161e5b289 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-usb.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-usb.xml
@@ -54,9 +54,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
 </domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-virtio.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-virtio.xml
index b88b220e33..299d595d6e 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-virtio.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+disk-virtio.xml
@@ -54,9 +54,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
 </domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+ivshmem-doorbell.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+ivshmem-doorbell.xml
index 11ffd9fba8..a6930bfa69 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+ivshmem-doorbell.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+ivshmem-doorbell.xml
@@ -44,9 +44,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
     <shmem name='shmem0'>
       <model type='ivshmem-plain'/>
       <size unit='M'>4</size>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+ivshmem-plain.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+ivshmem-plain.xml
index 9736f6bda7..757b6b0980 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+ivshmem-plain.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+ivshmem-plain.xml
@@ -44,9 +44,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
     <shmem name='shmem0'>
       <model type='ivshmem-plain'/>
       <size unit='M'>4</size>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+qemu-agent.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+qemu-agent.xml
index 051273ccf6..b1ba51b2d8 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+qemu-agent.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+qemu-agent.xml
@@ -50,9 +50,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
 </domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+watchdog-user-alias.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+watchdog-user-alias.xml
index 27aff2b6f8..1fddd68a27 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+watchdog-user-alias.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+watchdog-user-alias.xml
@@ -48,9 +48,7 @@
       <alias name='ua-UserWatchdog'/>
       <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x05' function='0x0'/>
     </watchdog>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
 </domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+watchdog.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+watchdog.xml
index 9f8f983e5d..76b573f25c 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+watchdog.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live+watchdog.xml
@@ -48,9 +48,7 @@
       <alias name='watchdog0'/>
       <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x05' function='0x0'/>
     </watchdog>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
 </domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live.xml
index 67cf41ad6b..d46e20fa58 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-live.xml
@@ -44,9 +44,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
 </domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-with-scsi-controller-live.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-with-scsi-controller-live.xml
index d23d3d483e..5ee6ea25c3 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-with-scsi-controller-live.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-with-scsi-controller-live.xml
@@ -48,9 +48,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
 </domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-without-scsi-controller-live+disk-scsi-2.xml b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-without-scsi-controller-live+disk-scsi-2.xml
index cceb678bb9..d35fea6f5f 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-without-scsi-controller-live+disk-scsi-2.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuhotplugtestdomains/qemuhotplug-base-without-scsi-controller-live+disk-scsi-2.xml
@@ -58,9 +58,7 @@
     <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'>
       <alias name='input1'/>
     </input>
-    <memballoon model='none'>
-      <alias name='balloon0'/>
-    </memballoon>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
   </devices>
   <seclabel type='none' model='none'/>
 </domain>