diff --git a/tests/cli-test-xml/compare/virt-install-aarch64-cdrom.xml b/tests/cli-test-xml/compare/virt-install-aarch64-cdrom.xml
index 7a55b464c..bf557a892 100644
--- a/tests/cli-test-xml/compare/virt-install-aarch64-cdrom.xml
+++ b/tests/cli-test-xml/compare/virt-install-aarch64-cdrom.xml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     <pae/>
   </features>
   <clock offset="utc"/>
-  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_poweroff>restart</on_poweroff>
   <on_reboot>destroy</on_reboot>
   <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
   <devices>
@@ -60,9 +60,9 @@
     <pae/>
   </features>
   <clock offset="utc"/>
-  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
-  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
-  <on_crash>restart</on_crash>
+  <on_poweroff>restart</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>destroy</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>preserve</on_crash>
   <devices>
     <emulator>/bin/qemu-system-aarch64</emulator>
     <disk type="file" device="disk">
diff --git a/tests/cli-test-xml/compare/virt-install-singleton-config-2.xml b/tests/cli-test-xml/compare/virt-install-singleton-config-2.xml
index 11e838172..68fa6bfd4 100644
--- a/tests/cli-test-xml/compare/virt-install-singleton-config-2.xml
+++ b/tests/cli-test-xml/compare/virt-install-singleton-config-2.xml
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@
   </clock>
   <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
   <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
-  <on_crash>restart</on_crash>
+  <on_crash>preserve</on_crash>
   <resource>
     <partition>/virtualmachines/production</partition>
   </resource>
diff --git a/tests/clitest.py b/tests/clitest.py
index 6fe131051..7e23ca074 100644
--- a/tests/clitest.py
+++ b/tests/clitest.py
@@ -761,7 +761,7 @@ c.add_compare("--arch armv7l --machine virt --boot kernel=/f19-arm.kernel,initrd
 c.add_compare("--arch armv7l --boot kernel=/f19-arm.kernel,initrd=/f19-arm.initrd,kernel_args=\"console=ttyAMA0,1234 rw root=/dev/vda3\",extra_args=foo --disk %(EXISTIMG1)s --os-variant fedora20", "arm-defaultmach-f20")
 c.add_compare("--arch aarch64 --machine virt --boot kernel=/f19-arm.kernel,initrd=/f19-arm.initrd,kernel_args=\"console=ttyAMA0,1234 rw root=/dev/vda3\",extra_args=foo --disk %(EXISTIMG1)s", "aarch64-machvirt")
 c.add_compare("--arch aarch64 --boot kernel=/f19-arm.kernel,initrd=/f19-arm.initrd,kernel_args=\"console=ttyAMA0,1234 rw root=/dev/vda3\",extra_args=foo --disk %(EXISTIMG1)s", "aarch64-machdefault")
-c.add_compare("--arch aarch64 --cdrom %(EXISTIMG2)s --boot loader=CODE.fd,nvram_template=VARS.fd --disk %(EXISTIMG1)s --cpu none", "aarch64-cdrom")
+c.add_compare("--arch aarch64 --cdrom %(EXISTIMG2)s --boot loader=CODE.fd,nvram_template=VARS.fd --disk %(EXISTIMG1)s --cpu none --events on_crash=preserve,on_reboot=destroy,on_poweroff=restart", "aarch64-cdrom")
 c.add_compare("--arch ppc64 --machine pseries --boot network --disk %(EXISTIMG1)s --os-variant fedora20 --network none", "ppc64-pseries-f20")
 c.add_compare("--arch ppc64 --boot network --disk %(EXISTIMG1)s --os-variant fedora20 --network none", "ppc64-machdefault-f20")
 c.add_compare("--arch aarch64 --nodisks", "aarch64-default-uefi")  # ensure aarch64 defaults to UEFI
diff --git a/virtinst/guest.py b/virtinst/guest.py
index 8891cec82..f8d86d110 100644
--- a/virtinst/guest.py
+++ b/virtinst/guest.py
@@ -102,9 +102,9 @@ class Guest(XMLBuilder):
     _XML_ROOT_NAME = "domain"
     _XML_PROP_ORDER = ["type", "name", "uuid", "title", "description",
         "maxmemory", "memory", "blkiotune", "memtune", "memoryBacking",
-        "vcpus", "curvcpus", "numatune", "bootloader", "os", "idmap", "features",
-        "cpu", "clock", "on_poweroff", "on_reboot", "on_crash", "resource", "pm",
-        "emulator", "_devices", "seclabel"]
+        "vcpus", "curvcpus", "numatune", "bootloader", "os", "idmap",
+        "features", "cpu", "clock", "on_poweroff", "on_reboot", "on_crash",
+        "resource", "pm", "emulator", "_devices", "seclabel"]
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         XMLBuilder.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
@@ -190,8 +190,8 @@ class Guest(XMLBuilder):
 
     on_poweroff = XMLProperty("./on_poweroff",
                               default_cb=lambda s: "destroy")
-    on_reboot = XMLProperty("./on_reboot")
-    on_crash = XMLProperty("./on_crash")
+    on_reboot = XMLProperty("./on_reboot", default_cb=lambda s: "restart")
+    on_crash = XMLProperty("./on_crash", default_cb=lambda s: "restart")
 
     os = XMLChildProperty(OSXML, is_single=True)
     features = XMLChildProperty(DomainFeatures, is_single=True)
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ class Guest(XMLBuilder):
         # We do a shallow copy of the OS block here, so that we can
         # set the install time properties but not permanently overwrite
         # any config the user explicitly requested.
-        data = self.os
+        data = (self.os, self.on_crash, self.on_reboot)
         try:
             self._propstore["os"] = self.os.copy()
         except:
@@ -315,7 +315,9 @@ class Guest(XMLBuilder):
         return data
 
     def _finish_get_xml(self, data):
-        self._propstore["os"] = data
+        (self._propstore["os"],
+         self.on_crash,
+         self.on_reboot) = data
 
     def _get_install_xml(self, *args, **kwargs):
         data = self._prepare_get_xml()
@@ -347,9 +349,9 @@ class Guest(XMLBuilder):
         self.installer.alter_bootconfig(self, osblob_install)
         self._set_transient_device_defaults(install)
 
-        action = install and "destroy" or "restart"
-        self.on_reboot = action
-        self.on_crash = action
+        if install:
+            self.on_reboot = "destroy"
+            self.on_crash = "destroy"
 
         self._set_osxml_defaults()