diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index e7d4ac90fa766864125f1e20c20896903d880718..e4eba1a957eb1eb997468ed779765a1b0c6dd8e6 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -12992,31 +12992,6 @@ virDomainDiskControllerMatch(int controller_type, int disk_bus)
     return false;
 }
 
-/* Return true if there's a duplicate disk[]->dst name for the same bus */
-bool
-virDomainDiskDefDstDuplicates(virDomainDefPtr def)
-{
-    size_t i, j;
-
-    /* optimization */
-    if (def->ndisks <= 1)
-        return false;
-
-    for (i = 1; i < def->ndisks; i++) {
-        for (j = 0; j < i; j++) {
-            if (STREQ(def->disks[i]->dst, def->disks[j]->dst)) {
-                virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
-                               _("target '%s' duplicated for disk sources "
-                                 "'%s' and '%s'"),
-                               def->disks[i]->dst,
-                               NULLSTR(virDomainDiskGetSource(def->disks[i])),
-                               NULLSTR(virDomainDiskGetSource(def->disks[j])));
-                return true;
-            }
-        }
-    }
-    return false;
-}
 
 int
 virDomainDiskIndexByAddress(virDomainDefPtr def,
@@ -23992,6 +23967,15 @@ int
 virDomainDiskDefCheckDuplicateInfo(virDomainDiskDefPtr a,
                                    virDomainDiskDefPtr b)
 {
+    if (STREQ(a->dst, b->dst)) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
+                       _("target '%s' duplicated for disk sources '%s' and '%s'"),
+                       a->dst,
+                       NULLSTR(virDomainDiskGetSource(a)),
+                       NULLSTR(virDomainDiskGetSource(b)));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     if (a->wwn && b->wwn && STREQ(a->wwn, b->wwn)) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
                        _("Disks '%s' and '%s' have identical WWN"),
@@ -24017,12 +24001,10 @@ virDomainDefCheckDuplicateDiskInfo(virDomainDefPtr def)
     size_t j;
 
     for (i = 0; i < def->ndisks; i++) {
-        if (def->disks[i]->wwn || def->disks[i]->serial) {
-            for (j = i + 1; j < def->ndisks; j++) {
-                if (virDomainDiskDefCheckDuplicateInfo(def->disks[i],
-                                                       def->disks[j]) < 0)
-                    return -1;
-            }
+        for (j = i + 1; j < def->ndisks; j++) {
+            if (virDomainDiskDefCheckDuplicateInfo(def->disks[i],
+                                                   def->disks[j]) < 0)
+                return -1;
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index aa1908efc4363e5348562d0f50519842ec6360f7..4afae59c785f21694b8f9dc5584603b075afabc1 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -2770,7 +2770,6 @@ int virDomainDefCompatibleDevice(virDomainDefPtr def,
 
 void virDomainRNGDefFree(virDomainRNGDefPtr def);
 
-bool virDomainDiskDefDstDuplicates(virDomainDefPtr def);
 int virDomainDiskIndexByAddress(virDomainDefPtr def,
                                 virDevicePCIAddressPtr pci_controller,
                                 unsigned int bus, unsigned int target,
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 23a15a4e25b7a1a48a6f5f1484615e619d1b9574..516e07375f2df2039f3900ccee5ee25487e07a0d 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -258,7 +258,6 @@ virDomainDiskCacheTypeFromString;
 virDomainDiskCacheTypeToString;
 virDomainDiskDefAssignAddress;
 virDomainDiskDefCheckDuplicateInfo;
-virDomainDiskDefDstDuplicates;
 virDomainDiskDefForeachPath;
 virDomainDiskDefFree;
 virDomainDiskDefNew;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 8943270176520a6e6ee964a4284c3e12df76bd0a..d7f19f37e60476c4bbbdc53d2ba03c570bfa9763 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -4228,9 +4228,6 @@ qemuBuildDriveDevStr(virDomainDefPtr def,
     const char *contAlias;
     int controllerModel;
 
-    if (virDomainDiskDefDstDuplicates(def))
-        goto error;
-
     if (qemuCheckDiskConfig(disk) < 0)
         goto error;
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 6fc11c6a08b749e1171c944b9fee0a255df5171b..d10808b56a49b2228f4b0d33d271a18118020cf3 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -7278,6 +7278,9 @@ static char *qemuConnectDomainXMLToNative(virConnectPtr conn,
     if (!(qemuCaps = virQEMUCapsCacheLookup(driver->qemuCapsCache, def->emulator)))
         goto cleanup;
 
+    if (qemuProcessStartValidate(def, qemuCaps, false, false) < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+
     /* Since we're just exporting args, we can't do bridge/network/direct
      * setups, since libvirt will normally create TAP/macvtap devices
      * directly. We convert those configs into generic 'ethernet'
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c b/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
index 18a5a12d2af960e44d3a0aed085d551f90fb68f0..87717804bf27db8143804d57d8a842e27ac10191 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
@@ -794,12 +794,6 @@ qemuDomainAttachDeviceDiskLive(virConnectPtr conn,
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DISK_DEVICE_DISK:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_DISK_DEVICE_LUN:
         for (i = 0; i < vm->def->ndisks; i++) {
-            if (STREQ(vm->def->disks[i]->dst, disk->dst)) {
-                virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_FAILED,
-                               _("target %s already exists"), disk->dst);
-                goto cleanup;
-            }
-
             if (virDomainDiskDefCheckDuplicateInfo(vm->def->disks[i], disk) < 0)
                 goto cleanup;
         }