diff --git a/docs/formatstorage.html.in b/docs/formatstorage.html.in
index 47c8b0c8a7..a7273ed78e 100644
--- a/docs/formatstorage.html.in
+++ b/docs/formatstorage.html.in
@@ -550,6 +550,11 @@
         specified with the same semantics as for <code>allocation</code>
         This is compulsory when creating a volume.
         <span class="since">Since 0.4.1</span></dd>
+      <dt><code>physical</code></dt>
+      <dd>This output only element provides the host physical size of
+        the target storage volume. The default output <code>unit</code>
+        will be in bytes.
+        <span class="since">Since 3.0.0</span></dd>
       <dt><code>source</code></dt>
       <dd>Provides information about the underlying storage allocation
         of the volume. This may not be available for some pool types.
diff --git a/src/conf/storage_conf.c b/src/conf/storage_conf.c
index 7e7bb7239e..71ea0c9960 100644
--- a/src/conf/storage_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/storage_conf.c
@@ -1669,6 +1669,12 @@ virStorageVolDefFormat(virStoragePoolDefPtr pool,
                       def->target.capacity);
     virBufferAsprintf(&buf, "<allocation unit='bytes'>%llu</allocation>\n",
                       def->target.allocation);
+    /* NB: Display only - since virStorageVolInfo is limited to just
+     * 'capacity' and 'allocation' on output. Since we don't read this
+     * in, be sure it was filled in before printing */
+    if (def->target.physical)
+        virBufferAsprintf(&buf, "<physical unit='bytes'>%llu</physical>\n",
+                          def->target.physical);
 
     if (virStorageVolTargetDefFormat(options, &buf,
                                      &def->target, "target") < 0)