diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index 63661b11ae4fbaa2fb9deb96e84190228de97e5f..dbc00c775f0aca6c2d670ffeed76d2d63c1fc6aa 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ Patches have also been contributed by:
   Heath Petersen       <HeathPetersen@Kandre.com>
   Neil Wilson          <neil@aldur.co.uk>
   Ohad Levy            <ohadlevy@gmail.com>
+  Michael Chapman      <mike@very.puzzling.org>
 
   [....send patches to get your name here....]
 
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 65d4f8957f66ec18fe1d464d86bfc69451036316..be5267bf2cce827e971155b71c66fc417291d907 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -9862,21 +9862,24 @@ static virDomainObjPtr virDomainLoadConfig(virCapsPtr caps,
                                       VIR_DOMAIN_XML_INACTIVE)))
         goto error;
 
-    /* if the domain is already in our hashtable, we don't need to do
-     * anything further
+    if ((autostartLink = virDomainConfigFile(autostartDir, name)) == NULL)
+        goto error;
+
+    if ((autostart = virFileLinkPointsTo(autostartLink, configFile)) < 0)
+        goto error;
+
+    /* if the domain is already in our hashtable, we only need to
+     * update the autostart flag
      */
     if ((dom = virDomainFindByUUID(doms, def->uuid))) {
+        dom->autostart = autostart;
+
         VIR_FREE(configFile);
+        VIR_FREE(autostartLink);
         virDomainDefFree(def);
         return dom;
     }
 
-    if ((autostartLink = virDomainConfigFile(autostartDir, name)) == NULL)
-        goto error;
-
-    if ((autostart = virFileLinkPointsTo(autostartLink, configFile)) < 0)
-        goto error;
-
     if (!(dom = virDomainAssignDef(caps, doms, def, false)))
         goto error;