diff --git a/core-modules/000QubesVm.py b/core-modules/000QubesVm.py
index 323ca6ec..18789a87 100644
--- a/core-modules/000QubesVm.py
+++ b/core-modules/000QubesVm.py
@@ -225,7 +225,8 @@ class QubesVm(object):
         assert self.name is not None
 
         if not self.verify_name(self.name):
-            raise QubesException("Invalid characters in VM name")
+            raise QubesException("Invalid VM name (invalid characters, "
+                                 "or one of 'none', 'true', 'false')")
 
         if self.netvm is not None:
             self.netvm.connected_vms[self.qid] = self
@@ -407,6 +408,8 @@ class QubesVm(object):
             return False
 
     def verify_name(self, name):
+        if not isinstance(self.__basic_parse_xml_attr(name), str):
+            return False
         return re.match(r"^[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_-]*$", name) is not None
 
     def pre_rename(self, new_name):