diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 76f965d58b..26ebf763f0 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -18718,7 +18718,7 @@ qemuConnectGetDomainCapabilities(virConnectPtr conn,
     char *ret = NULL;
     virQEMUDriverPtr driver = conn->privateData;
     virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps = NULL;
-    int virttype; /* virDomainVirtType */
+    int virttype = VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_NONE;
     virDomainCapsPtr domCaps = NULL;
     int arch = virArchFromHost(); /* virArch */
     virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg = NULL;
@@ -18734,12 +18734,6 @@ qemuConnectGetDomainCapabilities(virConnectPtr conn,
     if (!(caps = virQEMUDriverGetCapabilities(driver, false)))
         goto cleanup;
 
-    if (qemuHostdevHostSupportsPassthroughLegacy() ||
-        qemuHostdevHostSupportsPassthroughVFIO())
-        virttype = VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KVM;
-    else
-        virttype = VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_QEMU;
-
     if (virttype_str &&
         (virttype = virDomainVirtTypeFromString(virttype_str)) < 0) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG,
@@ -18803,6 +18797,13 @@ qemuConnectGetDomainCapabilities(virConnectPtr conn,
         machine = virQEMUCapsGetDefaultMachine(qemuCaps);
     }
 
+    if (virttype == VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_NONE) {
+        if (virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_KVM))
+            virttype = VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KVM;
+        else
+            virttype = VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_QEMU;
+    }
+
     if (!(domCaps = virDomainCapsNew(emulatorbin, machine, arch, virttype)))
         goto cleanup;