diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index a3a68b1aa108b26c9c1dc367315f2a83b5e4f255..d16a4ab6a9b00805df2eff0065a360d1344764b4 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -2991,6 +2991,11 @@ static void qemudShutdownVMDaemon(struct qemud_driver *driver,
     VIR_DEBUG("Shutting down VM '%s' pid=%d migrated=%d",
               vm->def->name, vm->pid, migrated);
 
+    if (!virDomainObjIsActive(vm)) {
+        VIR_DEBUG("VM '%s' not active", vm->def->name);
+        return;
+    }
+
     if ((logfile = qemudLogFD(driver, vm->def->name, true)) < 0) {
         /* To not break the normal domain shutdown process, skip the
          * timestamp log writing if failed on opening log file. */