diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index a56f324af2..e7365ba86a 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -7097,17 +7097,9 @@ qemuBuildMachineCommandLine(virCommandPtr cmd,
      */
     virBufferAddLit(&buf, ",usb=off");
 
-    if (vmport) {
-        if (!virQEMUCapsSupportsVmport(qemuCaps, def)) {
-            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
-                           _("vmport is not available "
-                             "with this QEMU binary"));
-            return -1;
-        }
-
+    if (vmport != VIR_TRISTATE_SWITCH_ABSENT)
         virBufferAsprintf(&buf, ",vmport=%s",
                           virTristateSwitchTypeToString(vmport));
-    }
 
     if (smm)
         virBufferAsprintf(&buf, ",smm=%s", virTristateSwitchTypeToString(smm));
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 4bce3219e2..895b52bb07 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -5114,6 +5114,17 @@ qemuDomainDefValidateFeatures(const virDomainDef *def,
             }
             break;
 
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_VMPORT:
+            if (def->features[i] != VIR_TRISTATE_SWITCH_ABSENT &&
+                !virQEMUCapsSupportsVmport(qemuCaps, def)) {
+
+                virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                               _("vmport is not available "
+                                 "with this QEMU binary"));
+                return -1;
+            }
+            break;
+
         case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_ACPI:
         case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_APIC:
         case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_PAE:
@@ -5124,7 +5135,6 @@ qemuDomainDefValidateFeatures(const virDomainDef *def,
         case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_PVSPINLOCK:
         case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_CAPABILITIES:
         case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_PMU:
-        case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_VMPORT:
         case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_VMCOREINFO:
         case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_MSRS:
         case VIR_DOMAIN_FEATURE_LAST:
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
index 50b43e01d4..67309f09ec 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
@@ -840,7 +840,8 @@ mymain(void)
             QEMU_CAPS_SPICE,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_QXL,
             QEMU_CAPS_HDA_DUPLEX,
-            QEMU_CAPS_USB_REDIR);
+            QEMU_CAPS_USB_REDIR,
+            QEMU_CAPS_MACHINE_VMPORT_OPT);
     DO_TEST("pcie-root",
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IOH3420,
             QEMU_CAPS_ICH9_AHCI,