diff --git a/qubes/storage/__init__.py b/qubes/storage/__init__.py
index e940ebd8..56c9fbcd 100644
--- a/qubes/storage/__init__.py
+++ b/qubes/storage/__init__.py
@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@ class Volume(object):
         self.size = size
         self.volume_type = volume_type
 
+    def __xml__(self):
+        return lxml.etree.Element('volume', **self.config)
+
     @property
     def config(self):
         ''' return config data for serialization to qubes.xml '''
diff --git a/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py b/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py
index 4a77b181..e0932292 100644
--- a/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py
+++ b/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py
@@ -493,8 +493,7 @@ class QubesVM(qubes.vm.mix.net.NetVMMixin, qubes.vm.BaseVM):
         if hasattr(self, 'volumes'):
             volume_config_node = lxml.etree.Element('volume-config')
             for volume in self.volumes.values():
-                volume_node = lxml.etree.Element('volume', **volume.config)
-                volume_config_node.append(volume_node)
+                volume_config_node.append(volume.__xml__())
 
             element.append(volume_config_node)