diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 286f5bd9846931425bae8447480a45580ae34326..d5f5fd6990f2245cd0ec4c84df0ea20bbabdc9ac 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -1295,22 +1295,10 @@ static virDrvOpenStatus qemuConnectOpen(virConnectPtr conn,
         return VIR_DRV_OPEN_ERROR;
     }
 
-    if (virQEMUDriverIsPrivileged(qemu_driver)) {
-        if (STRNEQ(conn->uri->path, "/system") &&
-            STRNEQ(conn->uri->path, "/session")) {
-            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
-                           _("unexpected QEMU URI path '%s', try qemu:///system"),
-                           conn->uri->path);
-            return VIR_DRV_OPEN_ERROR;
-        }
-    } else {
-        if (STRNEQ(conn->uri->path, "/session")) {
-            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
-                           _("unexpected QEMU URI path '%s', try qemu:///session"),
-                           conn->uri->path);
-            return VIR_DRV_OPEN_ERROR;
-        }
-    }
+    if (!virConnectValidateURIPath(conn->uri->path,
+                                   "qemu",
+                                   virQEMUDriverIsPrivileged(qemu_driver)))
+        return VIR_DRV_OPEN_ERROR;
 
     if (virConnectOpenEnsureACL(conn) < 0)
         return VIR_DRV_OPEN_ERROR;