diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 78bfaa5b3a..a35abf2747 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -5949,7 +5949,7 @@ qemuDomainSaveImageDefineXML(virConnectPtr conn, const char *path,
     if (qemuSaveImageGetMetadata(driver, NULL, path, &def, &data) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
-    fd = qemuSaveImageOpen(driver, path, 0, NULL, false);
+    fd = qemuSaveImageOpen(driver, path, false, NULL, true);
     if (fd < 0)
         goto cleanup;