diff --git a/heartbeat/VirtualDomain b/heartbeat/VirtualDomain
index f7ed1009fa..8d5e181323 100755
--- a/heartbeat/VirtualDomain
+++ b/heartbeat/VirtualDomain
@@ -257,6 +257,15 @@ VirtualDomain_Status() {
 	return $rc
 }
 
+verify_undefined() {
+	for dom in `virsh --connect=${OCF_RESKEY_hypervisor} list --all --name`; do
+		if [ "$dom" = "$DOMAIN_NAME" ]; then
+			virsh $VIRSH_OPTIONS undefine $DOMAIN_NAME > /dev/null 2>&1
+			return
+		fi
+	done
+}
+
 VirtualDomain_Start() {
 	local snapshotimage
 
@@ -276,6 +285,14 @@ VirtualDomain_Start() {
 		return $OCF_ERR_GENERIC
 	fi
 
+	# Make sure domain is undefined before creating.
+	# The 'create' command guarantees that the domain will be
+	# undefined on shutdown, but requires the domain to be undefined.
+	# if a user defines the domain
+	# outside of this agent, we have to ensure that the domain
+	# is restored to an 'undefined' state before creating.
+	verify_undefined
+
 	virsh $VIRSH_OPTIONS create ${OCF_RESKEY_config}
 	rc=$?
 	if [ $rc -ne 0 ]; then