diff --git a/src/conf/capabilities.c b/src/conf/capabilities.c
index 863cd06a8d1f5a9d34bbf3e1571282ebac0783c4..c320c0f72dfd6d3a5e6a2fa2fa002cb3852d0c0a 100644
--- a/src/conf/capabilities.c
+++ b/src/conf/capabilities.c
@@ -1178,91 +1178,77 @@ virCapabilitiesFormatHostXML(virCapsHostPtr host,
 }
 
 
-/**
- * virCapabilitiesFormatXML:
- * @caps: capabilities to format
- *
- * Convert the capabilities object into an XML representation
- *
- * Returns the XML document as a string
- */
-char *
-virCapabilitiesFormatXML(virCapsPtr caps)
+static void
+virCapabilitiesFormatGuestXML(virCapsPtr caps,
+                              virBufferPtr buf)
 {
-    virBuffer buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
     size_t i, j, k;
 
-    virBufferAddLit(&buf, "<capabilities>\n\n");
-    virBufferAdjustIndent(&buf, 2);
-
-    if (virCapabilitiesFormatHostXML(&caps->host, &buf) < 0)
-        goto error;
-
     for (i = 0; i < caps->nguests; i++) {
-        virBufferAddLit(&buf, "<guest>\n");
-        virBufferAdjustIndent(&buf, 2);
-        virBufferAsprintf(&buf, "<os_type>%s</os_type>\n",
+        virBufferAddLit(buf, "<guest>\n");
+        virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, 2);
+        virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<os_type>%s</os_type>\n",
                           virDomainOSTypeToString(caps->guests[i]->ostype));
         if (caps->guests[i]->arch.id)
-            virBufferAsprintf(&buf, "<arch name='%s'>\n",
+            virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<arch name='%s'>\n",
                               virArchToString(caps->guests[i]->arch.id));
-        virBufferAdjustIndent(&buf, 2);
-        virBufferAsprintf(&buf, "<wordsize>%d</wordsize>\n",
+        virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, 2);
+        virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<wordsize>%d</wordsize>\n",
                           caps->guests[i]->arch.wordsize);
         if (caps->guests[i]->arch.defaultInfo.emulator)
-            virBufferAsprintf(&buf, "<emulator>%s</emulator>\n",
+            virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<emulator>%s</emulator>\n",
                               caps->guests[i]->arch.defaultInfo.emulator);
         if (caps->guests[i]->arch.defaultInfo.loader)
-            virBufferAsprintf(&buf, "<loader>%s</loader>\n",
+            virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<loader>%s</loader>\n",
                               caps->guests[i]->arch.defaultInfo.loader);
 
         for (j = 0; j < caps->guests[i]->arch.defaultInfo.nmachines; j++) {
             virCapsGuestMachinePtr machine = caps->guests[i]->arch.defaultInfo.machines[j];
-            virBufferAddLit(&buf, "<machine");
+            virBufferAddLit(buf, "<machine");
             if (machine->canonical)
-                virBufferAsprintf(&buf, " canonical='%s'", machine->canonical);
+                virBufferAsprintf(buf, " canonical='%s'", machine->canonical);
             if (machine->maxCpus > 0)
-                virBufferAsprintf(&buf, " maxCpus='%d'", machine->maxCpus);
-            virBufferAsprintf(&buf, ">%s</machine>\n", machine->name);
+                virBufferAsprintf(buf, " maxCpus='%d'", machine->maxCpus);
+            virBufferAsprintf(buf, ">%s</machine>\n", machine->name);
         }
 
         for (j = 0; j < caps->guests[i]->arch.ndomains; j++) {
-            virBufferAsprintf(&buf, "<domain type='%s'",
+            virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<domain type='%s'",
                 virDomainVirtTypeToString(caps->guests[i]->arch.domains[j]->type));
             if (!caps->guests[i]->arch.domains[j]->info.emulator &&
                 !caps->guests[i]->arch.domains[j]->info.loader &&
                 !caps->guests[i]->arch.domains[j]->info.nmachines) {
-                virBufferAddLit(&buf, "/>\n");
+                virBufferAddLit(buf, "/>\n");
                 continue;
             }
-            virBufferAddLit(&buf, ">\n");
-            virBufferAdjustIndent(&buf, 2);
+            virBufferAddLit(buf, ">\n");
+            virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, 2);
             if (caps->guests[i]->arch.domains[j]->info.emulator)
-                virBufferAsprintf(&buf, "<emulator>%s</emulator>\n",
+                virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<emulator>%s</emulator>\n",
                                   caps->guests[i]->arch.domains[j]->info.emulator);
             if (caps->guests[i]->arch.domains[j]->info.loader)
-                virBufferAsprintf(&buf, "<loader>%s</loader>\n",
+                virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<loader>%s</loader>\n",
                                   caps->guests[i]->arch.domains[j]->info.loader);
 
             for (k = 0; k < caps->guests[i]->arch.domains[j]->info.nmachines; k++) {
                 virCapsGuestMachinePtr machine = caps->guests[i]->arch.domains[j]->info.machines[k];
-                virBufferAddLit(&buf, "<machine");
+                virBufferAddLit(buf, "<machine");
                 if (machine->canonical)
-                    virBufferAsprintf(&buf, " canonical='%s'", machine->canonical);
+                    virBufferAsprintf(buf, " canonical='%s'", machine->canonical);
                 if (machine->maxCpus > 0)
-                    virBufferAsprintf(&buf, " maxCpus='%d'", machine->maxCpus);
-                virBufferAsprintf(&buf, ">%s</machine>\n", machine->name);
+                    virBufferAsprintf(buf, " maxCpus='%d'", machine->maxCpus);
+                virBufferAsprintf(buf, ">%s</machine>\n", machine->name);
             }
-            virBufferAdjustIndent(&buf, -2);
-            virBufferAddLit(&buf, "</domain>\n");
+            virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, -2);
+            virBufferAddLit(buf, "</domain>\n");
         }
 
-        virBufferAdjustIndent(&buf, -2);
-        virBufferAddLit(&buf, "</arch>\n");
+        virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, -2);
+        virBufferAddLit(buf, "</arch>\n");
 
         if (caps->guests[i]->nfeatures) {
-            virBufferAddLit(&buf, "<features>\n");
-            virBufferAdjustIndent(&buf, 2);
+            virBufferAddLit(buf, "<features>\n");
+            virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, 2);
 
             for (j = 0; j < caps->guests[i]->nfeatures; j++) {
                 if (STREQ(caps->guests[i]->features[j]->name, "pae") ||
@@ -1270,22 +1256,46 @@ virCapabilitiesFormatXML(virCapsPtr caps)
                     STREQ(caps->guests[i]->features[j]->name, "ia64_be") ||
                     STREQ(caps->guests[i]->features[j]->name, "cpuselection") ||
                     STREQ(caps->guests[i]->features[j]->name, "deviceboot")) {
-                    virBufferAsprintf(&buf, "<%s/>\n",
+                    virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<%s/>\n",
                                       caps->guests[i]->features[j]->name);
                 } else {
-                    virBufferAsprintf(&buf, "<%s default='%s' toggle='%s'/>\n",
+                    virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<%s default='%s' toggle='%s'/>\n",
                                       caps->guests[i]->features[j]->name,
                                       caps->guests[i]->features[j]->defaultOn ? "on" : "off",
                                       caps->guests[i]->features[j]->toggle ? "yes" : "no");
                 }
             }
 
-            virBufferAdjustIndent(&buf, -2);
-            virBufferAddLit(&buf, "</features>\n");
+            virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, -2);
+            virBufferAddLit(buf, "</features>\n");
         }
-        virBufferAdjustIndent(&buf, -2);
-        virBufferAddLit(&buf, "</guest>\n\n");
+        virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, -2);
+        virBufferAddLit(buf, "</guest>\n\n");
     }
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * virCapabilitiesFormatXML:
+ * @caps: capabilities to format
+ *
+ * Convert the capabilities object into an XML representation
+ *
+ * Returns the XML document as a string
+ */
+char *
+virCapabilitiesFormatXML(virCapsPtr caps)
+{
+    virBuffer buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
+
+    virBufferAddLit(&buf, "<capabilities>\n\n");
+    virBufferAdjustIndent(&buf, 2);
+
+    if (virCapabilitiesFormatHostXML(&caps->host, &buf) < 0)
+        goto error;
+
+    virCapabilitiesFormatGuestXML(caps, &buf);
+
     virBufferAdjustIndent(&buf, -2);
     virBufferAddLit(&buf, "</capabilities>\n");