diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 62bacf27856560cc2ed506f55fd4a0087c995832..988d38e434d818e66aa95d7954d78f7e2fb7506b 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -3479,7 +3479,7 @@ qemuBuildMemoryBackendProps(virJSONValuePtr *backendProps,
         } else {
             /* We can have both pagesize and mem source. If that's the case,
              * prefer hugepages as those are more specific. */
-            if (qemuGetMemoryBackingPath(def, cfg, mem->info.alias, &memPath) < 0)
+            if (qemuGetMemoryBackingPath(priv->driver, def, mem->info.alias, &memPath) < 0)
                 return -1;
         }
 
@@ -7240,11 +7240,11 @@ qemuBuildSmpCommandLine(virCommandPtr cmd,
 
 
 static int
-qemuBuildMemPathStr(virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
-                    const virDomainDef *def,
+qemuBuildMemPathStr(const virDomainDef *def,
                     virCommandPtr cmd,
                     qemuDomainObjPrivatePtr priv)
 {
+    g_autoptr(virQEMUDriverConfig) cfg = virQEMUDriverGetConfig(priv->driver);
     const long system_page_size = virGetSystemPageSizeKB();
     g_autofree char *mem_path = NULL;
 
@@ -7261,7 +7261,7 @@ qemuBuildMemPathStr(virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
         if (qemuGetDomainHupageMemPath(priv->driver, def, pagesize, &mem_path) < 0)
             return -1;
     } else if (def->mem.source == VIR_DOMAIN_MEMORY_SOURCE_FILE) {
-        if (qemuGetMemoryBackingPath(def, cfg, "ram", &mem_path) < 0)
+        if (qemuGetMemoryBackingPath(priv->driver, def, "ram", &mem_path) < 0)
             return -1;
     } else {
         return 0;
@@ -7280,7 +7280,6 @@ qemuBuildMemPathStr(virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
 
 static int
 qemuBuildMemCommandLine(virCommandPtr cmd,
-                        virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
                         const virDomainDef *def,
                         virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
                         qemuDomainObjPrivatePtr priv)
@@ -7312,7 +7311,7 @@ qemuBuildMemCommandLine(virCommandPtr cmd,
      * the hugepages and no numa node is specified.
      */
     if (!virDomainNumaGetNodeCount(def->numa) &&
-        qemuBuildMemPathStr(cfg, def, cmd, priv) < 0)
+        qemuBuildMemPathStr(def, cmd, priv) < 0)
         return -1;
 
     if (virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_OVERCOMMIT)) {
@@ -7393,7 +7392,7 @@ qemuBuildNumaArgStr(virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
     }
 
     if (!needBackend &&
-        qemuBuildMemPathStr(cfg, def, cmd, priv) < 0)
+        qemuBuildMemPathStr(def, cmd, priv) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
     for (i = 0; i < ncells; i++) {
@@ -9886,7 +9885,7 @@ qemuBuildCommandLine(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
     if (!migrateURI && !snapshot && qemuDomainAlignMemorySizes(def) < 0)
         return NULL;
 
-    if (qemuBuildMemCommandLine(cmd, cfg, def, qemuCaps, priv) < 0)
+    if (qemuBuildMemCommandLine(cmd, def, qemuCaps, priv) < 0)
         return NULL;
 
     if (qemuBuildSmpCommandLine(cmd, def, qemuCaps) < 0)
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
index 713542f8cd0d2833f6018197c28615f05f07b909..c59824006c21929af68d4c32e28fc5947f3154e7 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
@@ -1965,16 +1965,23 @@ qemuGetDomainHupageMemPath(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
 
 
 int
-qemuGetMemoryBackingDomainPath(const virDomainDef *def,
-                               virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
+qemuGetMemoryBackingDomainPath(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
+                               const virDomainDef *def,
                                char **path)
 {
+    g_autoptr(virQEMUDriverConfig) cfg = virQEMUDriverGetConfig(driver);
+    const char *root = driver->embeddedRoot;
     g_autofree char *shortName = NULL;
 
     if (!(shortName = virDomainDefGetShortName(def)))
         return -1;
 
-    *path = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s", cfg->memoryBackingDir, shortName);
+    if (root && !STRPREFIX(cfg->memoryBackingDir, root)) {
+        g_autofree char * hash = virDomainDriverGenerateRootHash("qemu", root);
+        *path = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s-%s", cfg->memoryBackingDir, hash, shortName);
+    } else {
+        *path = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s", cfg->memoryBackingDir, shortName);
+    }
 
     return 0;
 }
@@ -1982,8 +1989,8 @@ qemuGetMemoryBackingDomainPath(const virDomainDef *def,
 
 /**
  * qemuGetMemoryBackingPath:
+ * @driver: the qemu driver
  * @def: domain definition
- * @cfg: the driver config
  * @alias: memory object alias
  * @memPath: constructed path
  *
@@ -1993,8 +2000,8 @@ qemuGetMemoryBackingDomainPath(const virDomainDef *def,
  *          -1 otherwise (with error reported).
  */
 int
-qemuGetMemoryBackingPath(const virDomainDef *def,
-                         virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
+qemuGetMemoryBackingPath(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
+                         const virDomainDef *def,
                          const char *alias,
                          char **memPath)
 {
@@ -2007,7 +2014,7 @@ qemuGetMemoryBackingPath(const virDomainDef *def,
         return -1;
     }
 
-    if (qemuGetMemoryBackingDomainPath(def, cfg, &domainPath) < 0)
+    if (qemuGetMemoryBackingDomainPath(driver, def, &domainPath) < 0)
         return -1;
 
     *memPath = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s", domainPath, alias);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
index b85a9497b7dce8a28aebd0dc0bb6305b82c53b06..b9ef4551a328699af098cb5765623f5173224901 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
@@ -397,10 +397,10 @@ int qemuGetDomainHupageMemPath(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
                                unsigned long long pagesize,
                                char **memPath);
 
-int qemuGetMemoryBackingDomainPath(const virDomainDef *def,
-                                   virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
+int qemuGetMemoryBackingDomainPath(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
+                                   const virDomainDef *def,
                                    char **path);
-int qemuGetMemoryBackingPath(const virDomainDef *def,
-                             virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
+int qemuGetMemoryBackingPath(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
+                             const virDomainDef *def,
                              const char *alias,
                              char **memPath);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index f9c400059f674703ac21964f6e8d4ad788fda731..8ea470f75f2c099106cfdad4aabb8b0a43833553 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -3894,7 +3894,7 @@ qemuProcessBuildDestroyMemoryPaths(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
 
     if (!build || shouldBuildMB) {
         g_autofree char *path = NULL;
-        if (qemuGetMemoryBackingDomainPath(vm->def, cfg, &path) < 0)
+        if (qemuGetMemoryBackingDomainPath(driver, vm->def, &path) < 0)
             return -1;
 
         if (qemuProcessBuildDestroyMemoryPathsImpl(driver, vm,
@@ -3911,10 +3911,9 @@ qemuProcessDestroyMemoryBackingPath(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
                                     virDomainObjPtr vm,
                                     virDomainMemoryDefPtr mem)
 {
-    g_autoptr(virQEMUDriverConfig) cfg = virQEMUDriverGetConfig(driver);
     g_autofree char *path = NULL;
 
-    if (qemuGetMemoryBackingPath(vm->def, cfg, mem->info.alias, &path) < 0)
+    if (qemuGetMemoryBackingPath(driver, vm->def, mem->info.alias, &path) < 0)
         return -1;
 
     if (unlink(path) < 0 &&