diff --git a/src/libxl/libxl_domain.c b/src/libxl/libxl_domain.c
index b60511a266..4073bf8d46 100644
--- a/src/libxl/libxl_domain.c
+++ b/src/libxl/libxl_domain.c
@@ -559,17 +559,6 @@ libxlDomainShutdownThread(void *opaque)
         case VIR_DOMAIN_LIFECYCLE_ACTION_LAST:
             goto endjob;
         }
-    } else if (xl_reason == LIBXL_SHUTDOWN_REASON_SUSPEND) {
-        virDomainObjSetState(vm, VIR_DOMAIN_PMSUSPENDED,
-                             VIR_DOMAIN_PMSUSPENDED_UNKNOWN);
-
-        dom_event = virDomainEventLifecycleNewFromObj(vm,
-                                           VIR_DOMAIN_EVENT_PMSUSPENDED,
-                                           VIR_DOMAIN_EVENT_PMSUSPENDED_MEMORY);
-        /*
-         * Similar to the xl implementation, ignore SUSPEND.  Any actions needed
-         * after calling libxl_domain_suspend() are handled by it's callers.
-         */
 #ifdef LIBXL_HAVE_SOFT_RESET
     } else if (xl_reason == LIBXL_SHUTDOWN_REASON_SOFT_RESET) {
         libxlDomainObjPrivatePtr priv = vm->privateData;
@@ -669,6 +658,7 @@ void
 libxlDomainEventHandler(void *data, VIR_LIBXL_EVENT_CONST libxl_event *event)
 {
     libxlDriverPrivatePtr driver = data;
+    libxl_shutdown_reason xl_reason = event->u.domain_shutdown.shutdown_reason;
     struct libxlShutdownThreadInfo *shutdown_info = NULL;
     virThread thread;
     libxlDriverConfigPtr cfg;
@@ -680,6 +670,13 @@ libxlDomainEventHandler(void *data, VIR_LIBXL_EVENT_CONST libxl_event *event)
         goto error;
     }
 
+    /*
+     * Similar to the xl implementation, ignore SUSPEND.  Any actions needed
+     * after calling libxl_domain_suspend() are handled by its callers.
+     */
+    if (xl_reason == LIBXL_SHUTDOWN_REASON_SUSPEND)
+        goto error;
+
     /*
      * Start a thread to handle shutdown.  We don't want to be tying up
      * libxl's event machinery by doing a potentially lengthy shutdown.