diff --git a/include/libvirt/libvirt-domain-snapshot.h b/include/libvirt/libvirt-domain-snapshot.h
index 602e5def597574a2c93dd13246d7d2a17ab044bb..90673ed0fb5082e7ae245555d0db6ace45fb0135 100644
--- a/include/libvirt/libvirt-domain-snapshot.h
+++ b/include/libvirt/libvirt-domain-snapshot.h
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ typedef enum {
     VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_LIVE        = (1 << 8), /* create the snapshot
                                                           while the guest is
                                                           running */
+    VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE    = (1 << 9), /* validate the XML
+                                                          against the schema */
 } virDomainSnapshotCreateFlags;
 
 /* Take a snapshot of the current VM state */
diff --git a/src/esx/esx_driver.c b/src/esx/esx_driver.c
index 47d95abd6d4e52a569ee1d8fec8b3490a3799feb..b98c72dc3f68cbd200561729ba245dbf59e430ce 100644
--- a/src/esx/esx_driver.c
+++ b/src/esx/esx_driver.c
@@ -4101,18 +4101,23 @@ esxDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr domain, const char *xmlDesc,
     bool diskOnly = (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_DISK_ONLY) != 0;
     bool quiesce = (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_QUIESCE) != 0;
     VIR_AUTOUNREF(virDomainSnapshotDefPtr) def = NULL;
+    unsigned int parse_flags = 0;
 
     /* ESX supports disk-only and quiesced snapshots; libvirt tracks no
      * snapshot metadata so supporting that flag is trivial.  */
     virCheckFlags(VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_DISK_ONLY |
                   VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_QUIESCE |
-                  VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_NO_METADATA, NULL);
+                  VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_NO_METADATA |
+                  VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE, NULL);
+
+    if (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE)
+        parse_flags = VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_PARSE_VALIDATE;
 
     if (esxVI_EnsureSession(priv->primary) < 0)
         return NULL;
 
     def = virDomainSnapshotDefParseString(xmlDesc, priv->caps,
-                                          priv->xmlopt, NULL, 0);
+                                          priv->xmlopt, NULL, parse_flags);
 
     if (!def)
         return NULL;
diff --git a/src/libvirt-domain-snapshot.c b/src/libvirt-domain-snapshot.c
index 0c8023d9f68b2d4aea865d72ac3f116c96d40b8c..20a3bc5545b2e16863056015c1cc3c909c66d4dd 100644
--- a/src/libvirt-domain-snapshot.c
+++ b/src/libvirt-domain-snapshot.c
@@ -115,6 +115,9 @@ virDomainSnapshotGetConnect(virDomainSnapshotPtr snapshot)
  * becomes current (see virDomainSnapshotCurrent()), and is a child
  * of any previous current snapshot.
  *
+ * If @flags includes VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE, then @xmlDesc
+ * is validated against the <domainsnapshot> XML schema.
+ *
  * If @flags includes VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_REDEFINE, then this
  * is a request to reinstate snapshot metadata that was previously
  * captured from virDomainSnapshotGetXMLDesc() before removing that
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 5a75f23981c6ea5fbdf737d5b460c4a44d9139ba..140896f329a53d36776797f8f53d8d28eaf58b4a 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -15525,7 +15525,8 @@ qemuDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr domain,
                   VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_REUSE_EXT |
                   VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_QUIESCE |
                   VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_ATOMIC |
-                  VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_LIVE, NULL);
+                  VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_LIVE |
+                  VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE, NULL);
 
     VIR_REQUIRE_FLAG_RET(VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_QUIESCE,
                          VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_DISK_ONLY,
@@ -15566,6 +15567,9 @@ qemuDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr domain,
         !virDomainObjIsActive(vm))
         parse_flags |= VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_PARSE_OFFLINE;
 
+    if (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE)
+        parse_flags |= VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_PARSE_VALIDATE;
+
     if (!(def = virDomainSnapshotDefParseString(xmlDesc, caps, driver->xmlopt,
                                                 NULL, parse_flags)))
         goto cleanup;
diff --git a/src/test/test_driver.c b/src/test/test_driver.c
index 49d7030d21fc7e7cb1397218e6216ad0402d4720..c10344f6cddc3f0c856cfa6f08cf5f9dc7c6006f 100644
--- a/src/test/test_driver.c
+++ b/src/test/test_driver.c
@@ -7183,7 +7183,8 @@ testDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr domain,
         VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_HALT |
         VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_QUIESCE |
         VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_ATOMIC |
-        VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_LIVE, NULL);
+        VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_LIVE |
+        VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE, NULL);
 
     if ((redefine && !(flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_CURRENT)))
         update_current = false;
@@ -7199,6 +7200,9 @@ testDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr domain,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
+    if (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE)
+        parse_flags |= VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_PARSE_VALIDATE;
+
     if (!(def = virDomainSnapshotDefParseString(xmlDesc,
                                                 privconn->caps,
                                                 privconn->xmlopt,
diff --git a/src/vbox/vbox_common.c b/src/vbox/vbox_common.c
index 54e31bec9d0db741f0fa619b2b08af1d652e6b2a..8a912da50ce28f3010b56fa1996b8b2d1bbb0452 100644
--- a/src/vbox/vbox_common.c
+++ b/src/vbox/vbox_common.c
@@ -5487,6 +5487,8 @@ vboxDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr dom,
     nsresult rc;
     resultCodeUnion result;
     virDomainSnapshotPtr ret = NULL;
+    unsigned int parse_flags = (VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_PARSE_DISKS |
+                                VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_PARSE_REDEFINE);
     VIR_AUTOUNREF(virDomainSnapshotDefPtr) def = NULL;
 
     if (!data->vboxObj)
@@ -5496,12 +5498,15 @@ vboxDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr dom,
     /* VBox has no snapshot metadata, so this flag is trivial.  */
     virCheckFlags(VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_NO_METADATA |
                   VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_REDEFINE |
-                  VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_CURRENT, NULL);
+                  VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_CURRENT |
+                  VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE, NULL);
+
+    if (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE)
+        parse_flags |= VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_PARSE_VALIDATE;
 
     if (!(def = virDomainSnapshotDefParseString(xmlDesc, data->caps,
                                                 data->xmlopt, NULL,
-                                                VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_PARSE_DISKS |
-                                                VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_PARSE_REDEFINE)))
+                                                parse_flags)))
         goto cleanup;
 
 
diff --git a/src/vz/vz_driver.c b/src/vz/vz_driver.c
index 2286f9a04f97b7a188eecb4db0b2988931e73828..50c883fecad619f496095759be541a729d2d3aa4 100644
--- a/src/vz/vz_driver.c
+++ b/src/vz/vz_driver.c
@@ -2586,7 +2586,7 @@ vzDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr domain,
     bool job = false;
     VIR_AUTOUNREF(virDomainSnapshotDefPtr) def = NULL;
 
-    virCheckFlags(0, NULL);
+    virCheckFlags(VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE, NULL);
 
     if (!(dom = vzDomObjFromDomain(domain)))
         return NULL;
@@ -2594,6 +2594,9 @@ vzDomainSnapshotCreateXML(virDomainPtr domain,
     if (virDomainSnapshotCreateXMLEnsureACL(domain->conn, dom->def, flags) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
+    if (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE)
+        parse_flags |= VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_PARSE_VALIDATE;
+
     if (!(def = virDomainSnapshotDefParseString(xmlDesc, driver->caps,
                                                 driver->xmlopt, NULL,
                                                 parse_flags)))
diff --git a/tests/virsh-snapshot b/tests/virsh-snapshot
index cb498cf54e4b6f6d18a195e0aaffb79d0de7d6a8..8eab67c9e09e07ac1e0f771f4b183413bf75ff0b 100755
--- a/tests/virsh-snapshot
+++ b/tests/virsh-snapshot
@@ -180,11 +180,11 @@ compare exp err || fail=1
 # Restore state with redefine
 $abs_top_builddir/tools/virsh -c test:///default >out 2>err <<EOF || fail=1
   # Redefine must be in topological order; this will fail
-  snapshot-create test --redefine s2.xml
+  snapshot-create test --redefine s2.xml --validate
   echo --err marker
   # This is the right order
-  snapshot-create test --redefine s3.xml
-  snapshot-create test --redefine s2.xml --current
+  snapshot-create test --redefine s3.xml --validate
+  snapshot-create test --redefine s2.xml --current --validate
   snapshot-info test --current
 EOF
 
diff --git a/tools/virsh-snapshot.c b/tools/virsh-snapshot.c
index be11a7491cf86f7c4dc10ab941f848bfaa701743..b5e5c234cc380002d24a29fb5239e67879a1c346 100644
--- a/tools/virsh-snapshot.c
+++ b/tools/virsh-snapshot.c
@@ -50,6 +50,13 @@ virshSnapshotCreate(vshControl *ctl, virDomainPtr dom, const char *buffer,
 
     snapshot = virDomainSnapshotCreateXML(dom, buffer, flags);
 
+    /* If no source file but validate was not recognized, try again without
+     * that flag. */
+    if (!snapshot && last_error->code == VIR_ERR_NO_SUPPORT && !from) {
+        flags &= ~VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE;
+        snapshot = virDomainSnapshotCreateXML(dom, buffer, flags);
+    }
+
     /* Emulate --halt on older servers.  */
     if (!snapshot && last_error->code == VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG &&
         (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_HALT)) {
@@ -147,6 +154,10 @@ static const vshCmdOptDef opts_snapshot_create[] = {
      .help = N_("require atomic operation")
     },
     VIRSH_COMMON_OPT_LIVE(N_("take a live snapshot")),
+    {.name = "validate",
+     .type = VSH_OT_BOOL,
+     .help = N_("validate the XML against the schema"),
+    },
     {.name = NULL}
 };
 
@@ -177,6 +188,8 @@ cmdSnapshotCreate(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmd *cmd)
         flags |= VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_ATOMIC;
     if (vshCommandOptBool(cmd, "live"))
         flags |= VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_LIVE;
+    if (vshCommandOptBool(cmd, "validate"))
+        flags |= VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE;
 
     if (!(dom = virshCommandOptDomain(ctl, cmd, NULL)))
         goto cleanup;
@@ -383,7 +396,7 @@ cmdSnapshotCreateAs(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmd *cmd)
     const char *desc = NULL;
     const char *memspec = NULL;
     virBuffer buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
-    unsigned int flags = 0;
+    unsigned int flags = VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_VALIDATE;
     const vshCmdOpt *opt = NULL;
 
     if (vshCommandOptBool(cmd, "no-metadata"))
diff --git a/tools/virsh.pod b/tools/virsh.pod
index 5168fa96b6911bd10656e1bc12b6fc27fb2c3371..dbcac24292783ff6d0d9a840d2137ecd4ecdf1d6 100644
--- a/tools/virsh.pod
+++ b/tools/virsh.pod
@@ -4588,10 +4588,13 @@ used to represent properties of snapshots.
 
 =item B<snapshot-create> I<domain> [I<xmlfile>] {[I<--redefine> [I<--current>]]
 | [I<--no-metadata>] [I<--halt>] [I<--disk-only>] [I<--reuse-external>]
-[I<--quiesce>] [I<--atomic>] [I<--live>]}
+[I<--quiesce>] [I<--atomic>] [I<--live>]} [I<--validate>]
 
 Create a snapshot for domain I<domain> with the properties specified in
-I<xmlfile>.  Normally, the only properties settable for a domain snapshot
+I<xmlfile>.   Optionally, the I<--validate> option can be passed to
+validate the format of the input XML file against an internal RNG
+schema (identical to using the L<virt-xml-validate(1)> tool). Normally,
+the only properties settable for a domain snapshot
 are the <name> and <description> elements, as well as <disks> if
 I<--disk-only> is given; the rest of the fields are
 ignored, and automatically filled in by libvirt.  If I<xmlfile> is