diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index 7861beefc4b4d186376541cd3847e08adaa93105..8e1177c46592ac5ccfebc9a0a8c5a652d7a7097b 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -661,7 +661,8 @@ qemuCapsInitGuest(virCapsPtr caps,
 
     /* Ignore binary if extracting version info fails */
     if (binary &&
-        qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(binary, info->arch, NULL, &qemuCaps) < 0)
+        qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(binary, info->arch,
+                                   false, NULL, &qemuCaps) < 0)
         VIR_FREE(binary);
 
     /* qemu-kvm/kvm binaries can only be used if
@@ -683,7 +684,8 @@ qemuCapsInitGuest(virCapsPtr caps,
                 continue;
 
             if (qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(kvmbin, info->arch,
-                                           NULL, &kvmCaps) < 0) {
+                                           false, NULL,
+                                           &kvmCaps) < 0) {
                 VIR_FREE(kvmbin);
                 continue;
             }
@@ -1489,7 +1491,9 @@ qemuCapsParseDeviceStr(const char *str, virBitmapPtr flags)
     return 0;
 }
 
-int qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(const char *qemu, const char *arch,
+int qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(const char *qemu,
+                               const char *arch,
+                               bool check_yajl,
                                unsigned int *retversion,
                                virBitmapPtr *retflags)
 {
@@ -1522,7 +1526,8 @@ int qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(const char *qemu, const char *arch,
 
     if (!(flags = qemuCapsNew()) ||
         qemuCapsParseHelpStr(qemu, help, flags,
-                             &version, &is_kvm, &kvm_version, true) == -1)
+                             &version, &is_kvm, &kvm_version,
+                             check_yajl) == -1)
         goto cleanup;
 
     /* Currently only x86_64 and i686 support PCI-multibus. */
@@ -1600,7 +1605,8 @@ int qemuCapsExtractVersion(virCapsPtr caps,
         return -1;
     }
 
-    if (qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(binary, ut.machine, version, NULL) < 0) {
+    if (qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(binary, ut.machine, false,
+                                   version, NULL) < 0) {
         return -1;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
index 6526ea838df9a982484e938aa7cac30e5d40b192..ca5482914154016043c13562dcf6dea493d22aa8 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
@@ -169,7 +169,9 @@ int qemuCapsProbeCPUModels(const char *qemu,
 
 int qemuCapsExtractVersion(virCapsPtr caps,
                            unsigned int *version);
-int qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(const char *qemu, const char *arch,
+int qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(const char *qemu,
+                               const char *arch,
+                               bool check_yajl,
                                unsigned int *version,
                                virBitmapPtr *qemuCaps);
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index d34af96db42bf8bb80b2d37aa1a3957e5aaed8f0..d6df4ee10fcb000ab4dd167f34d496b488e65ada 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -776,7 +776,7 @@ qemuDomainAssignS390Addresses(virDomainDefPtr def, virBitmapPtr qemuCaps)
     if (!qemuCaps) {
         /* need to get information from real environment */
         if (qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(def->emulator, def->os.arch,
-                                       NULL,
+                                       false, NULL,
                                        &localCaps) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
         qemuCaps = localCaps;
@@ -1015,6 +1015,7 @@ qemuDomainAssignPCIAddresses(virDomainDefPtr def,
     if (!qemuCaps) {
         /* need to get information from real environment */
         if (qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(def->emulator, def->os.arch,
+                                       false,
                                        NULL,
                                        &localCaps) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 46831a68a427c09f828d5c76ebce574a7fb66db2..ecd2ec18dc7cb124d8ed9ddfca97be3e9a944ebe 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -4761,6 +4761,7 @@ static char *qemuDomainXMLToNative(virConnectPtr conn,
     }
 
     if (qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(def->emulator, def->os.arch,
+                                   false,
                                    NULL,
                                    &qemuCaps) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 5bdf7335470cf3c61d8014bfcdf4a1ebca060e71..dad5304940881998a303da80d6442492750cb3e9 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -3104,6 +3104,7 @@ qemuProcessReconnect(void *opaque)
      */
     if (!priv->qemuCaps &&
         qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(obj->def->emulator, obj->def->os.arch,
+                                   false,
                                    NULL,
                                    &priv->qemuCaps) < 0)
         goto error;
@@ -3504,6 +3505,7 @@ int qemuProcessStart(virConnectPtr conn,
     qemuCapsFree(priv->qemuCaps);
     priv->qemuCaps = NULL;
     if (qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(vm->def->emulator, vm->def->os.arch,
+                                   true,
                                    NULL,
                                    &priv->qemuCaps) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
@@ -4248,6 +4250,7 @@ int qemuProcessAttach(virConnectPtr conn ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
     priv->qemuCaps = NULL;
     if (qemuCapsExtractVersionInfo(vm->def->emulator,
                                    vm->def->os.arch,
+                                   false,
                                    NULL,
                                    &priv->qemuCaps) < 0)
         goto cleanup;