diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 3309f346429bb3655373dbff37829a1446352e5d..3279a99f4b01e023a50e2e62f91b0208176a2c09 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -590,6 +590,20 @@ qemuDomainNetsRestart(void *payload,
     virDomainObjUnlock(vm);
 }
 
+
+static void
+qemuDomainFindMaxID(void *payload,
+                    const void *name ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
+                    void *data)
+{
+    virDomainObjPtr vm = payload;
+    int *driver_maxid = data;
+
+    if (vm->def->id >= *driver_maxid)
+        *driver_maxid = vm->def->id + 1;
+}
+
+
 /**
  * qemudStartup:
  *
@@ -863,6 +877,13 @@ qemudStartup(int privileged) {
                                 NULL, NULL) < 0)
         goto error;
 
+    /* find the maximum ID from active and transient configs to initialize
+     * the driver with. This is to avoid race between autostart and reconnect
+     * threads */
+    virHashForEach(qemu_driver->domains.objs,
+                   qemuDomainFindMaxID,
+                   &qemu_driver->nextvmid);
+
     virHashForEach(qemu_driver->domains.objs, qemuDomainNetsRestart, NULL);
 
     conn = virConnectOpen(qemu_driver->uri);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index d8cf4c31ac4c98267dbf0d3781da3cf342ba52ff..8bf80e7dbef8dee0fd21a212fa91bcb2113429b5 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -3230,9 +3230,6 @@ qemuProcessReconnect(void *opaque)
             goto error;
     }
 
-    if (obj->def->id >= driver->nextvmid)
-        driver->nextvmid = obj->def->id + 1;
-
 endjob:
     if (!qemuDomainObjEndJob(driver, obj))
         obj = NULL;