diff --git a/src/ch/ch_conf.c b/src/ch/ch_conf.c
index f421af5121..a7b2285886 100644
--- a/src/ch/ch_conf.c
+++ b/src/ch/ch_conf.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 
 #include "configmake.h"
 #include "vircommand.h"
+#include "virfile.h"
 #include "virlog.h"
 #include "virobject.h"
 #include "virstring.h"
@@ -67,8 +68,16 @@ virCaps *virCHDriverCapsInit(void)
     guest = virCapabilitiesAddGuest(caps, VIR_DOMAIN_OSTYPE_HVM,
                                     caps->host.arch, NULL, NULL, 0, NULL);
 
-    virCapabilitiesAddGuestDomain(guest, VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KVM,
-                                  NULL, NULL, 0, NULL);
+    if (virFileExists("/dev/kvm")) {
+        virCapabilitiesAddGuestDomain(guest, VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KVM,
+                                      NULL, NULL, 0, NULL);
+    }
+
+    if (virFileExists("/dev/mshv")) {
+        virCapabilitiesAddGuestDomain(guest, VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_HYPERV,
+                                      NULL, NULL, 0, NULL);
+    }
+
     return g_steal_pointer(&caps);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/ch/ch_driver.c b/src/ch/ch_driver.c
index 96de5044ac..2601eea44b 100644
--- a/src/ch/ch_driver.c
+++ b/src/ch/ch_driver.c
@@ -889,6 +889,15 @@ static int chStateInitialize(bool privileged,
     if (!(ch_driver->caps = virCHDriverCapsInit()))
         goto cleanup;
 
+    if (!virCapabilitiesDomainSupported(ch_driver->caps, -1,
+                                        VIR_ARCH_NONE, VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KVM) &&
+        !virCapabilitiesDomainSupported(ch_driver->caps, -1,
+                                        VIR_ARCH_NONE, VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_HYPERV)) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                       _("/dev/kvm and /dev/mshv are missing. CH driver failed to initialize."));
+        return VIR_DRV_STATE_INIT_ERROR;
+    }
+
     if (!(ch_driver->xmlopt = chDomainXMLConfInit(ch_driver)))
         goto cleanup;
 
diff --git a/src/ch/ch_process.c b/src/ch/ch_process.c
index b371181fb2..7488b1d65d 100644
--- a/src/ch/ch_process.c
+++ b/src/ch/ch_process.c
@@ -644,6 +644,46 @@ chProcessAddNetworkDevices(virCHDriver *driver,
     return 0;
 }
 
+/**
+ * virCHProcessStartValidate:
+ * @driver: pointer to driver structure
+ * @vm: domain object
+ *
+ * Checks done before starting a VM.
+ *
+ * Returns 0 on success or -1 in case of error
+ */
+static int
+virCHProcessStartValidate(virCHDriver *driver,
+                          virDomainObj *vm)
+{
+    if (vm->def->virtType == VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KVM) {
+        VIR_DEBUG("Checking for KVM availability");
+        if (!virCapabilitiesDomainSupported(driver->caps, -1,
+                                            VIR_ARCH_NONE, VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KVM)) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                           _("Domain requires KVM, but it is not available. Check that virtualization is enabled in the host BIOS, and host configuration is setup to load the kvm modules."));
+            return -1;
+        }
+    } else if (vm->def->virtType == VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_HYPERV) {
+        VIR_DEBUG("Checking for mshv availability");
+        if (!virCapabilitiesDomainSupported(driver->caps, -1,
+                                            VIR_ARCH_NONE, VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_HYPERV)) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                           _("Domain requires MSHV device, but it is not available. Check that virtualization is enabled in the host BIOS, and host configuration is setup to load the mshv modules."));
+            return -1;
+        }
+
+    } else {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
+                       _("virt type '%1$s' is not supported"),
+                       virDomainVirtTypeToString(vm->def->virtType));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
 /**
  * virCHProcessStart:
  * @driver: pointer to driver structure
@@ -671,6 +711,10 @@ virCHProcessStart(virCHDriver *driver,
         return -1;
     }
 
+    if (virCHProcessStartValidate(driver, vm) < 0) {
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     if (!priv->monitor) {
         /* And we can get the first monitor connection now too */
         if (!(priv->monitor = virCHProcessConnectMonitor(driver, vm))) {