diff --git a/docs/schemas/domain.rng b/docs/schemas/domain.rng
index b2783b0..f18881a 100644
--- a/docs/schemas/domain.rng
+++ b/docs/schemas/domain.rng
@@ -283,6 +283,14 @@
   <define name="resources">
     <interleave>
       <element name="memory">
+        <optional>
+          <attribute name="balloonable">
+            <choice>
+              <value>yes</value>
+              <value>no</value>
+            </choice>
+          </attribute>
+        </optional>
         <ref name="memoryKB"/>
       </element>
       <optional>
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index bfe01f0..2a21998 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -4208,10 +4208,24 @@ static virDomainDefPtr virDomainDefParseXML(virCapsPtr caps,
                              "%s", _("missing memory element"));
         goto error;
     }
-
     if (virXPathULong("string(./currentMemory[1])", ctxt, &def->memory) < 0)
         def->memory = def->maxmem;
 
+    tmp = virXPathString("string(./memory[1]/@balloonable)", ctxt);
+    if (tmp) {
+        if (STREQ(tmp, "yes"))
+            def->balloonable = 1;
+        else if (STREQ(tmp, "no"))
+            def->balloonable = -1;
+        else {
+            virDomainReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
+                  _("memory balloonable attribute: expected yes or no got %s"),
+                                 tmp);
+            goto error;
+        }
+        VIR_FREE(tmp);
+    }
+
     node = virXPathNode("./memoryBacking/hugepages", ctxt);
     if (node)
         def->hugepage_backed = 1;
@@ -4829,18 +4843,22 @@ static virDomainDefPtr virDomainDefParseXML(virCapsPtr caps,
         goto error;
     }
     if (n > 0) {
-        virDomainMemballoonDefPtr memballoon =
-            virDomainMemballoonDefParseXML(nodes[0], flags);
-        if (!memballoon)
-            goto error;
+        if (def->balloonable >= 0) {
+            virDomainMemballoonDefPtr memballoon =
+                virDomainMemballoonDefParseXML(nodes[0], flags);
+            if (!memballoon)
+                goto error;
 
-        def->memballoon = memballoon;
+            def->memballoon = memballoon;
+            def->balloonable = 1;
+        }
         VIR_FREE(nodes);
     } else {
-        if (def->virtType == VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_XEN ||
-            def->virtType == VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_QEMU ||
-            def->virtType == VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KQEMU ||
-            def->virtType == VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KVM) {
+        if ((def->balloonable >= 0) &&
+            (def->virtType == VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_XEN ||
+             def->virtType == VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_QEMU ||
+             def->virtType == VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KQEMU ||
+             def->virtType == VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KVM)) {
             virDomainMemballoonDefPtr memballoon;
             if (VIR_ALLOC(memballoon) < 0)
                 goto no_memory;
@@ -6349,7 +6367,13 @@ char *virDomainDefFormat(virDomainDefPtr def,
         virBufferEscapeString(&buf, "  <description>%s</description>\n",
                               def->description);
 
-    virBufferVSprintf(&buf, "  <memory>%lu</memory>\n", def->maxmem);
+    if (def->balloonable == 1)
+        virBufferAddLit(&buf, "  <memory balloonable='yes'>");
+    else if (def->balloonable == -1)
+        virBufferAddLit(&buf, "  <memory balloonable='no'>");
+    else
+        virBufferAddLit(&buf, "  <memory>");
+    virBufferVSprintf(&buf, "%lu</memory>\n", def->maxmem);
     virBufferVSprintf(&buf, "  <currentMemory>%lu</currentMemory>\n",
                       def->memory);
     if (def->hugepage_backed) {
@@ -6577,7 +6601,7 @@ char *virDomainDefFormat(virDomainDefPtr def,
     if (def->watchdog)
         virDomainWatchdogDefFormat (&buf, def->watchdog, flags);
 
-    if (def->memballoon)
+    if ((def->balloonable >= 0) && (def->memballoon))
         virDomainMemballoonDefFormat (&buf, def->memballoon, flags);
 
     virBufferAddLit(&buf, "  </devices>\n");
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index e32188f..8bf5c11 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -854,6 +854,7 @@ struct _virDomainDef {
 
     unsigned long memory;
     unsigned long maxmem;
+    int balloonable;
     unsigned char hugepage_backed;
     unsigned long vcpus;
     int cpumasklen;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
index 376cd10..9e21f5d 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
@@ -2434,7 +2434,7 @@ qemuAssignDevicePCISlots(virDomainDefPtr def, qemuDomainPCIAddressSetPtr addrs)
     }
 
     /* VirtIO balloon */
-    if (def->memballoon &&
+    if (def->balloonable >= 0 && def->memballoon &&
         def->memballoon->model == VIR_DOMAIN_MEMBALLOON_MODEL_VIRTIO &&
         def->memballoon->info.type == VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_ADDRESS_TYPE_NONE) {
         if (qemuDomainPCIAddressSetNextAddr(addrs, &def->memballoon->info) < 0)
@@ -4958,7 +4958,7 @@ int qemudBuildCommandLine(virConnectPtr conn,
      * NB: Earlier we declared that VirtIO balloon will always be in
      * slot 0x3 on bus 0x0
      */
-    if (def->memballoon) {
+    if ((def->balloonable >= 0) && (def->memballoon)) {
         if (def->memballoon->model != VIR_DOMAIN_MEMBALLOON_MODEL_VIRTIO) {
             qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
                             _("Memory balloon device type '%s' is not supported by this version of qemu"),
@@ -6575,13 +6575,18 @@ virDomainDefPtr qemuParseCommandLine(virCapsPtr caps,
         def->videos[def->nvideos++] = vid;
     }
 
-    if (!def->memballoon) {
+    /*
+     * if we were not told explicitely that memory was not baloonable
+     * activate the baloon driver
+     */
+    if ((def->balloonable >= 0) && (!def->memballoon)) {
         virDomainMemballoonDefPtr memballoon;
         if (VIR_ALLOC(memballoon) < 0)
             goto no_memory;
         memballoon->model = VIR_DOMAIN_MEMBALLOON_MODEL_VIRTIO;
 
         def->memballoon = memballoon;
+        def->balloonable = 1;
     }
 
     VIR_FREE(nics);