diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 9f9fdf24190ef43772da86f8c04484842d6737da..ee25e01f9ef21bc2e2237a30639de83c0fddd6f6 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -2936,7 +2936,8 @@ virDomainObjGetPersistentDef(virCapsPtr caps,
                              virDomainXMLOptionPtr xmlopt,
                              virDomainObjPtr domain)
 {
-    if (virDomainObjSetDefTransient(caps, xmlopt, domain, false) < 0)
+    if (virDomainObjIsActive(domain) &&
+        virDomainObjSetDefTransient(caps, xmlopt, domain, false) < 0)
         return NULL;
 
     if (domain->newDef)