diff --git a/plugins/hypervisors/kvm/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/kvm/resource/wrapper/LibvirtDeleteVMSnapshotCommandWrapper.java b/plugins/hypervisors/kvm/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/kvm/resource/wrapper/LibvirtDeleteVMSnapshotCommandWrapper.java
index 9efec950af3..a0faa37ac12 100644
--- a/plugins/hypervisors/kvm/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/kvm/resource/wrapper/LibvirtDeleteVMSnapshotCommandWrapper.java
+++ b/plugins/hypervisors/kvm/src/main/java/com/cloud/hypervisor/kvm/resource/wrapper/LibvirtDeleteVMSnapshotCommandWrapper.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import org.apache.cloudstack.storage.to.VolumeObjectTO;
 import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
 import org.libvirt.Connect;
 import org.libvirt.Domain;
+import org.libvirt.DomainInfo.DomainState;
 import org.libvirt.DomainSnapshot;
 import org.libvirt.LibvirtException;
 
@@ -58,6 +59,9 @@ public final class LibvirtDeleteVMSnapshotCommandWrapper extends CommandWrapper<
 
             snapshot = dm.snapshotLookupByName(cmd.getTarget().getSnapshotName());
 
+            s_logger.debug("Suspending domain " + vmName);
+            dm.suspend(); // suspend the vm to avoid image corruption
+
             snapshot.delete(0); // only remove this snapshot, not children
 
             return new DeleteVMSnapshotAnswer(cmd, cmd.getVolumeTOs());
@@ -100,6 +104,10 @@ public final class LibvirtDeleteVMSnapshotCommandWrapper extends CommandWrapper<
         } finally {
             if (dm != null) {
                 try {
+                    if (dm.getInfo().state == DomainState.VIR_DOMAIN_PAUSED) {
+                        s_logger.debug("Resuming domain " + vmName);
+                        dm.resume();
+                    }
                     dm.free();
                 } catch (LibvirtException l) {
                     s_logger.trace("Ignoring libvirt error.", l);