diff --git a/tools/libvirt-guests.init.sh b/tools/libvirt-guests.init.sh
index ea2189e1aa..080cf6aa87 100644
--- a/tools/libvirt-guests.init.sh
+++ b/tools/libvirt-guests.init.sh
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ start() {
                 if $guest_running; then
                     gettext "already active"; echo
                 else
-                    retval run_virsh $uri start "$name" >/dev/null && \
+                    retval run_virsh $uri start "$guest" >/dev/null && \
                     gettext "done"; echo
                 fi
             fi
diff --git a/tools/virsh.c b/tools/virsh.c
index a5e9c4f39d..b42aac4d70 100644
--- a/tools/virsh.c
+++ b/tools/virsh.c
@@ -1402,7 +1402,8 @@ cmdStart(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmd *cmd)
     if (!vshConnectionUsability(ctl, ctl->conn))
         return FALSE;
 
-    if (!(dom = vshCommandOptDomainBy(ctl, cmd, NULL, VSH_BYNAME)))
+    if (!(dom = vshCommandOptDomainBy(ctl, cmd, NULL,
+                                      VSH_BYNAME | VSH_BYUUID)))
         return FALSE;
 
     if (virDomainGetID(dom) != (unsigned int)-1) {