diff --git a/qubes/vm/__init__.py b/qubes/vm/__init__.py
index 41f83a10..1605fe59 100644
--- a/qubes/vm/__init__.py
+++ b/qubes/vm/__init__.py
@@ -356,8 +356,7 @@ class BaseVM(qubes.PropertyHolder):
         args['name'] = self.name
         if hasattr(self, 'kernels_dir'):
             args['kerneldir'] = self.kernels_dir
-        args['uuidnode'] = '<uuid>{!s}</uuid>'.format(self.uuid) \
-            if hasattr(self, 'uuid') else ''
+        args['uuid'] = str(self.uuid)
         args['vmdir'] = self.dir_path
         args['pcidevs'] = ''.join(lxml.etree.tostring(self.lvxml_pci_dev(dev))
             for dev in self.devices['pci'])
diff --git a/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py b/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py
index f1cad69c..7181fd38 100644
--- a/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py
+++ b/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py
@@ -317,13 +317,8 @@ class QubesVM(qubes.vm.BaseVM):
 
         # XXX _update_libvirt_domain?
         try:
-            if hasattr(self, 'uuid'):
-                self._libvirt_domain = self.app.vmm.libvirt_conn.lookupByUUID(
-                    self.uuid.bytes)
-            else:
-                self._libvirt_domain = self.app.vmm.libvirt_conn.lookupByName(
-                    self.name)
-                self.uuid = uuid.UUID(bytes=self._libvirt_domain.UUID())
+            self._libvirt_domain = self.app.vmm.libvirt_conn.lookupByUUID(
+                self.uuid.bytes)
         except libvirt.libvirtError:
             if self.app.vmm.libvirt_conn.virConnGetLastError()[0] == \
                     libvirt.VIR_ERR_NO_DOMAIN:
@@ -544,6 +539,12 @@ class QubesVM(qubes.vm.BaseVM):
     # event handlers
     #
 
+    @qubes.events.handler('domain-init', 'domain-loaded')
+    def on_domain_init_loaded(self, event):
+        if not hasattr(self, 'uuid'):
+            self.uuid = uuid.uuid4()
+
+
     @qubes.events.handler('property-set:label')
     def on_property_set_label(self, event, name, new_label, old_label=None):
         # pylint: disable=unused-argument
@@ -1717,7 +1718,6 @@ class QubesVM(qubes.vm.BaseVM):
         try:
             self._libvirt_domain = self.app.vmm.libvirt_conn.defineXML(
                 domain_config)
-            self.uuid = uuid.UUID(bytes=self._libvirt_domain.UUID())
         except libvirt.libvirtError:
             if self.app.vmm.libvirt_conn.virConnGetLastError()[0] == \
                     libvirt.VIR_ERR_NO_DOMAIN:
diff --git a/vm-config/wni-vm-template-hvm.xml b/vm-config/wni-vm-template-hvm.xml
index ce0e2eb3..fe26c78b 100644
--- a/vm-config/wni-vm-template-hvm.xml
+++ b/vm-config/wni-vm-template-hvm.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <domain type='test'>
   <name>{name}</name>
-  {uuidnode}
+  <uuid>{uuid}</uuid>
   <memory unit='MiB'>{maxmem}</memory>
   <os>
     <type>hvm</type>
diff --git a/vm-config/wni-vm-template.xml b/vm-config/wni-vm-template.xml
index c287819e..d099fa52 100644
--- a/vm-config/wni-vm-template.xml
+++ b/vm-config/wni-vm-template.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <domain type='test'>
   <name>{name}</name>
-  {uuidnode}
+  <uuid>{uuid}</uuid>
   <memory unit='MiB'>{maxmem}</memory>
   <os>
     <type>pv</type>
diff --git a/vm-config/xen-vm-template-hvm.xml b/vm-config/xen-vm-template-hvm.xml
index ba2dc862..62ccc5ed 100644
--- a/vm-config/xen-vm-template-hvm.xml
+++ b/vm-config/xen-vm-template-hvm.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <domain type='xen'>
   <name>{name}</name>
-  {uuidnode}
+  <uuid>{uuid}</uuid>
   <memory unit='MiB'>{maxmem}</memory>
   <currentMemory unit='MiB'>{mem}</currentMemory>
   <vcpu placement='static'>{vcpus}</vcpu>
diff --git a/vm-config/xen-vm-template.xml b/vm-config/xen-vm-template.xml
index ccb89c93..bbb8b274 100644
--- a/vm-config/xen-vm-template.xml
+++ b/vm-config/xen-vm-template.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <domain type='xen'>
   <name>{name}</name>
-  {uuidnode}
+  <uuid>{uuid}</uuid>
   <memory unit='MiB'>{maxmem}</memory>
   <currentMemory unit='MiB'>{mem}</currentMemory>
   <vcpu placement='static'>{vcpus}</vcpu>