diff --git a/include/migration/migration.h b/include/migration/migration.h
index afba2335e3..86df6cc245 100644
--- a/include/migration/migration.h
+++ b/include/migration/migration.h
@@ -197,4 +197,5 @@ size_t ram_control_save_page(QEMUFile *f, ram_addr_t block_offset,
 
 void ram_mig_init(void);
 void savevm_skip_section_footers(void);
+void register_global_state(void);
 #endif
diff --git a/migration/migration.c b/migration/migration.c
index c6ac08a0cb..5e436f7106 100644
--- a/migration/migration.c
+++ b/migration/migration.c
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include "qemu/thread.h"
 #include "qmp-commands.h"
 #include "trace.h"
+#include "qapi/util.h"
 
 #define MAX_THROTTLE  (32 << 20)      /* Migration speed throttling */
 
@@ -97,6 +98,83 @@ void migration_incoming_state_destroy(void)
     mis_current = NULL;
 }
 
+
+typedef struct {
+    uint32_t size;
+    uint8_t runstate[100];
+} GlobalState;
+
+static GlobalState global_state;
+
+static int global_state_store(void)
+{
+    if (!runstate_store((char *)global_state.runstate,
+                        sizeof(global_state.runstate))) {
+        error_report("runstate name too big: %s", global_state.runstate);
+        trace_migrate_state_too_big();
+        return -EINVAL;
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static char *global_state_get_runstate(void)
+{
+    return (char *)global_state.runstate;
+}
+
+static int global_state_post_load(void *opaque, int version_id)
+{
+    GlobalState *s = opaque;
+    int ret = 0;
+    char *runstate = (char *)s->runstate;
+
+    trace_migrate_global_state_post_load(runstate);
+
+    if (strcmp(runstate, "running") != 0) {
+        Error *local_err = NULL;
+        int r = qapi_enum_parse(RunState_lookup, runstate, RUN_STATE_MAX,
+                                -1, &local_err);
+
+        if (r == -1) {
+            if (local_err) {
+                error_report_err(local_err);
+            }
+            return -EINVAL;
+        }
+        ret = vm_stop_force_state(r);
+    }
+
+   return ret;
+}
+
+static void global_state_pre_save(void *opaque)
+{
+    GlobalState *s = opaque;
+
+    trace_migrate_global_state_pre_save((char *)s->runstate);
+    s->size = strlen((char *)s->runstate) + 1;
+}
+
+static const VMStateDescription vmstate_globalstate = {
+    .name = "globalstate",
+    .version_id = 1,
+    .minimum_version_id = 1,
+    .post_load = global_state_post_load,
+    .pre_save = global_state_pre_save,
+    .fields = (VMStateField[]) {
+        VMSTATE_UINT32(size, GlobalState),
+        VMSTATE_BUFFER(runstate, GlobalState),
+        VMSTATE_END_OF_LIST()
+    },
+};
+
+void register_global_state(void)
+{
+    /* We would use it independently that we receive it */
+    strcpy((char *)&global_state.runstate, "");
+    vmstate_register(NULL, 0, &vmstate_globalstate, &global_state);
+}
+
 /*
  * Called on -incoming with a defer: uri.
  * The migration can be started later after any parameters have been
@@ -164,10 +242,20 @@ static void process_incoming_migration_co(void *opaque)
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
-    if (autostart) {
+    /* runstate == "" means that we haven't received it through the
+     * wire, so we obey autostart.  runstate == runing means that we
+     * need to run it, we need to make sure that we do it after
+     * everything else has finished.  Every other state change is done
+     * at the post_load function */
+
+    if (strcmp(global_state_get_runstate(), "running") == 0) {
         vm_start();
-    } else {
-        runstate_set(RUN_STATE_PAUSED);
+    } else if (strcmp(global_state_get_runstate(), "") == 0) {
+        if (autostart) {
+            vm_start();
+        } else {
+            runstate_set(RUN_STATE_PAUSED);
+        }
     }
     migrate_decompress_threads_join();
 }
@@ -793,10 +881,13 @@ static void *migration_thread(void *opaque)
                 qemu_system_wakeup_request(QEMU_WAKEUP_REASON_OTHER);
                 old_vm_running = runstate_is_running();
 
-                ret = vm_stop_force_state(RUN_STATE_FINISH_MIGRATE);
-                if (ret >= 0) {
-                    qemu_file_set_rate_limit(s->file, INT64_MAX);
-                    qemu_savevm_state_complete(s->file);
+                ret = global_state_store();
+                if (!ret) {
+                    ret = vm_stop_force_state(RUN_STATE_FINISH_MIGRATE);
+                    if (ret >= 0) {
+                        qemu_file_set_rate_limit(s->file, INT64_MAX);
+                        qemu_savevm_state_complete(s->file);
+                    }
                 }
                 qemu_mutex_unlock_iothread();
 
diff --git a/trace-events b/trace-events
index a38dd2e7ae..c0111d0296 100644
--- a/trace-events
+++ b/trace-events
@@ -1403,6 +1403,9 @@ migrate_fd_error(void) ""
 migrate_fd_cancel(void) ""
 migrate_pending(uint64_t size, uint64_t max) "pending size %" PRIu64 " max %" PRIu64
 migrate_transferred(uint64_t tranferred, uint64_t time_spent, double bandwidth, uint64_t size) "transferred %" PRIu64 " time_spent %" PRIu64 " bandwidth %g max_size %" PRId64
+migrate_state_too_big(void) ""
+migrate_global_state_post_load(const char *state) "loaded state: %s"
+migrate_global_state_pre_save(const char *state) "saved state: %s"
 
 # migration/rdma.c
 qemu_rdma_accept_incoming_migration(void) ""
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 19a8737a9a..cfa6133308 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -4624,6 +4624,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
         return 0;
     }
 
+    register_global_state();
     if (incoming) {
         Error *local_err = NULL;
         qemu_start_incoming_migration(incoming, &local_err);