diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_config.py b/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_config.py
index 2c96bd2a67..01c5e43485 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_config.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_config.py
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 #    under the License.
 
 import ddt
+from unittest import mock
+
 from lxml import etree
 from oslo_utils.fixture import uuidsentinel as uuids
 from oslo_utils import units
@@ -80,6 +82,17 @@ class LibvirtConfigTest(LibvirtConfigBaseTest):
         obj = config.LibvirtConfigObject(root_name="demo")
         obj.parse_str(inxml)
 
+    @mock.patch.object(config.LOG, 'debug')
+    def test_config_parse_error_xml_logged(self, mock_debug):
+        inxml = "<demo><vendor_field index='Z'>6<1</vendor_field></demo>"
+        obj = config.LibvirtConfigObject(root_name="demo")
+
+        self.assertRaises(etree.XMLSyntaxError, obj.parse_str, inxml)
+
+        mock_debug.assert_called_once_with(
+            'Failed to parse the libvirt XML: %s',
+            "<demo><vendor_field index='Z'>6<1</vendor_field></demo>")
+
     def test_parse_on_off_str(self):
         obj = config.LibvirtConfigObject(root_name="demo")
         self.assertTrue(obj.parse_on_off_str('on'))
diff --git a/nova/virt/libvirt/config.py b/nova/virt/libvirt/config.py
index 76657231d5..a4395b4d28 100644
--- a/nova/virt/libvirt/config.py
+++ b/nova/virt/libvirt/config.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import typing as ty
 
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from lxml import etree
+from oslo_log import log as logging
 from oslo_utils import strutils
 from oslo_utils import units
 
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ from nova.objects import fields
 from nova.pci import utils as pci_utils
 from nova.virt import hardware
 
+LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 # Namespace to use for Nova specific metadata items in XML
 NOVA_NS = "http://openstack.org/xmlns/libvirt/nova/1.1"
@@ -83,7 +85,11 @@ class LibvirtConfigObject(object):
         return self._new_node(self.root_name)
 
     def parse_str(self, xmlstr):
-        self.parse_dom(etree.fromstring(xmlstr))
+        try:
+            self.parse_dom(etree.fromstring(xmlstr))
+        except etree.Error:
+            LOG.debug("Failed to parse the libvirt XML: %s", xmlstr)
+            raise
 
     def parse_dom(self, xmldoc):
         if self.root_name != xmldoc.tag: