diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 5e8a20a18788fdc2a34494d7f52a0885dd2b092e..93097613ece089ca6ba2efc817054bd1b623b7d2 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -471,6 +471,10 @@ qemuProcessHandleShutdown(qemuMonitorPtr mon ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
         VIR_DEBUG("Ignoring repeated SHUTDOWN event from domain %s",
                   vm->def->name);
         goto unlock;
+    } else if (!virDomainObjIsActive(vm)) {
+        VIR_DEBUG("Ignoring SHUTDOWN event from inactive domain %s",
+                  vm->def->name);
+        goto unlock;
     }
     priv->gotShutdown = true;