diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 26ce12474b04b87bd7c5629e28c41ddf0b1d0a0a..319293a760d2e6cb4b4c3263e4617e2cbc467329 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -2360,6 +2360,29 @@ qemuDomainDefaultNetModel(const virDomainDef *def,
     return "rtl8139";
 }
 
+
+/*
+ * Clear auto generated unix socket path, i.e., the one which starts with our
+ * channel directory.
+ */
+static void
+qemuDomainChrDefDropDefaultPath(virDomainChrDefPtr chr,
+                                virQEMUDriverPtr driver)
+{
+    virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg = virQEMUDriverGetConfig(driver);
+
+    if (chr->deviceType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_DEVICE_TYPE_CHANNEL &&
+        chr->targetType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_VIRTIO &&
+        chr->source.type == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_UNIX &&
+        chr->source.data.nix.path &&
+        STRPREFIX(chr->source.data.nix.path, cfg->channelTargetDir)) {
+        VIR_FREE(chr->source.data.nix.path);
+    }
+
+    virObjectUnref(cfg);
+}
+
+
 static int
 qemuDomainDeviceDefPostParse(virDomainDeviceDefPtr dev,
                              const virDomainDef *def,
@@ -2441,21 +2464,8 @@ qemuDomainDeviceDefPostParse(virDomainDeviceDefPtr dev,
 
     /* clear auto generated unix socket path for inactive definitions */
     if ((parseFlags & VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_PARSE_INACTIVE) &&
-        dev->type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_CHR &&
-        dev->data.chr->deviceType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_DEVICE_TYPE_CHANNEL &&
-        dev->data.chr->targetType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_CHANNEL_TARGET_TYPE_VIRTIO &&
-        dev->data.chr->source.type == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_TYPE_UNIX &&
-        dev->data.chr->source.data.nix.path &&
-        STRPREFIX(dev->data.chr->source.data.nix.path, cfg->channelTargetDir)) {
-        /*
-         * If the address is generated by us (starts with our
-         * channel dir), we should not keep it in the persistent
-         * XML.  If libvirt is the one who generated it, users
-         * shouldn't care about that.  If they do, they are
-         * supposed to set it themselves.
-         */
-        VIR_FREE(dev->data.chr->source.data.nix.path);
-    }
+        dev->type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_CHR)
+        qemuDomainChrDefDropDefaultPath(dev->data.chr, driver);
 
     /* forbid capabilities mode hostdev in this kind of hypervisor */
     if (dev->type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_HOSTDEV &&
@@ -3270,7 +3280,8 @@ qemuDomainDefFormatBuf(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
             virDomainControllerDefFree(usb);
         }
 
-
+        for (i = 0; i < def->nchannels; i++)
+            qemuDomainChrDefDropDefaultPath(def->channels[i], driver);
     }
 
  format: