diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 8aa082618315d50f785cb868d77aca8de813d3c6..bf2ce29bfc4eba2448f333d78a9a0c7315e2039b 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -5682,8 +5682,7 @@ qemuDomainCheckDiskStartupPolicy(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
 
 
 int
-qemuDomainCheckDiskPresence(virConnectPtr conn,
-                            virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
+qemuDomainCheckDiskPresence(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
                             virDomainObjPtr vm,
                             unsigned int flags)
 {
@@ -5697,13 +5696,6 @@ qemuDomainCheckDiskPresence(virConnectPtr conn,
         virDomainDiskDefPtr disk = vm->def->disks[idx];
         virStorageFileFormat format = virDomainDiskGetFormat(disk);
 
-        if (virStorageTranslateDiskSourcePool(conn, vm->def->disks[idx]) < 0) {
-            if (pretend ||
-                qemuDomainCheckDiskStartupPolicy(driver, vm, idx, cold_boot) < 0)
-                return -1;
-            continue;
-        }
-
         if (pretend)
             continue;
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
index f3ffa62932ac618757dc43a50ded3cfac139428f..23285967fabeb28e491226f08a74352c171f9d90 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
@@ -644,8 +644,7 @@ int qemuDomainCheckDiskStartupPolicy(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
                                      size_t diskIndex,
                                      bool cold_boot);
 
-int qemuDomainCheckDiskPresence(virConnectPtr conn,
-                                virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
+int qemuDomainCheckDiskPresence(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
                                 virDomainObjPtr vm,
                                 unsigned int flags);
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 3f70141e2f59dd24b5b278327ab34b58610b543d..f160933e245ac2d9379298f03b14dfb7b027cc93 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -5284,6 +5284,32 @@ qemuProcessPrepareDomainNUMAPlacement(virDomainObjPtr vm,
 }
 
 
+static int
+qemuProcessPrepareDomainStorage(virConnectPtr conn,
+                                virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
+                                virDomainObjPtr vm,
+                                unsigned int flags)
+{
+    size_t i;
+    bool cold_boot = flags & VIR_QEMU_PROCESS_START_COLD;
+
+    for (i = vm->def->ndisks; i > 0; i--) {
+        size_t idx = i - 1;
+        virDomainDiskDefPtr disk = vm->def->disks[idx];
+
+        if (virStorageTranslateDiskSourcePool(conn, disk) < 0) {
+            if (qemuDomainCheckDiskStartupPolicy(driver, vm, idx, cold_boot) < 0)
+                return -1;
+
+            /* disk source was dropped */
+            continue;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
 /**
  * qemuProcessPrepareDomain:
  * @conn: connection object (for looking up storage volumes)
@@ -5360,10 +5386,12 @@ qemuProcessPrepareDomain(virConnectPtr conn,
     if (qemuProcessSetupGraphics(driver, vm, flags) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
-    /* Drop possibly missing disks from the definition. This function
-     * also resolves source pool/volume into a path and it needs to
-     * happen after the def is copied and aliases are set. */
-    if (qemuDomainCheckDiskPresence(conn, driver, vm, flags) < 0)
+    VIR_DEBUG("Setting up storage");
+    if (qemuProcessPrepareDomainStorage(conn, driver, vm, flags) < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+
+    /* Drop possibly missing disks from the definition. */
+    if (qemuDomainCheckDiskPresence(driver, vm, flags) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
     VIR_DEBUG("Create domain masterKey");