diff --git a/instances/templates/create_instance_w1.html b/instances/templates/create_instance_w1.html
index a532569a..6e33af42 100644
--- a/instances/templates/create_instance_w1.html
+++ b/instances/templates/create_instance_w1.html
@@ -48,14 +48,15 @@
             <div class="card-body">
                 <h2 class="h5 card-title mb-0" id="xml-heading">
                     <button class="btn p-0 border-0 text-body fw-medium w-100 text-start focus-ring disclosure" type="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#from-xml"
-                            aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="from-xml">
+                            aria-expanded="{% if xml_error %}true{% else %}false{% endif %}" aria-controls="from-xml">
                         {% bs_icon 'chevron-down' %} {% trans "Or define it from XML" %}
                     </button>
                 </h2>
-                <div class="collapse" id="from-xml">
+                <div class="collapse{% if xml_error %} show{% endif %}" id="from-xml">
                     <form method="post" class="pt-3" aria-label="{% trans "Create instance from XML" %}">{% csrf_token %}
-                        <input type="hidden" name="dom_xml">
-                        <div class="xmlheight mb-3"><textarea id="editor" aria-label="{% trans "Domain XML" %}"></textarea></div>
+                        {% if xml_error %}<div class="alert alert-danger form-errors" role="alert">{{ xml_error }}</div>{% endif %}
+                        <input type="hidden" name="dom_xml" value="{{ xml }}">
+                        <div class="xmlheight mb-3"><textarea id="editor" aria-label="{% trans "Domain XML" %}">{{ xml }}</textarea></div>
                         <div class="d-flex justify-content-end">
                             <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary" name="create_xml" onclick="showPleaseWaitDialog()">
                                 {% trans "Create VM" %}
diff --git a/instances/tests/test_create_form_input.py b/instances/tests/test_create_form_input.py
index adef977d..678521db 100644
--- a/instances/tests/test_create_form_input.py
+++ b/instances/tests/test_create_form_input.py
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ import json
 import uuid
 from unittest.mock import patch
 
+import libvirt
+from computes.models import Compute
+from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
 from django.test import TestCase
 from django.urls import reverse
 from instances.models import Flavor
@@ -262,3 +265,32 @@ class SubmittedListsTests(TestCase):
     def test_only_a_refused_form_sends_lists(self):
         _, response = render_create_page(self)
         self.assertIsNone(self.lists(response))
+
+
+class XmlRefusalTests(TestCase):
+    """A refused XML definition comes back in its open editor, its reason
+    beside it."""
+
+    def post(self, xml):
+        conn = libvirt.open("test:///default")
+        self.addCleanup(conn.close)
+        compute, _ = Compute.objects.get_or_create(name="testdrv", hostname="localhost", login="", password="", type=4)
+        self.client.force_login(get_user_model().objects.create_superuser("xml", "xml@example.com", "pw"))
+        with patch("vrtManager.connection.connection_manager.get_connection", return_value=conn):
+            response = self.client.post(reverse("instances:create_instance_select_type", args=[compute.id]),
+                                        {"create_xml": "", "dom_xml": xml})
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        page = html.fromstring(response.content)
+        self.assertIn("show", page.get_element_by_id("from-xml").classes)
+        self.assertEqual(page.xpath("//*[@id='editor']/text()"), [xml])
+        self.assertEqual(page.xpath("//input[@name='dom_xml']/@value"), [xml])
+        return page.xpath("//*[@id='from-xml']//*[contains(@class, 'form-errors')]")[0].text_content()
+
+    def test_a_taken_name(self):
+        self.assertIn("already exists", self.post("<domain type='test'><name>test</name></domain>"))
+
+    def test_malformed_xml(self):
+        self.assertIn("not well-formed", self.post("<domain type='test'><name>new</name>"))
+
+    def test_a_definition_libvirt_refuses(self):
+        self.assertIn("libvirt", self.post("<domain type='nope'><name>new</name><memory>1024</memory></domain>"))
diff --git a/instances/views.py b/instances/views.py
index 7109f8ea..3ba2816f 100755
--- a/instances/views.py
+++ b/instances/views.py
@@ -1975,22 +1975,24 @@ def create_instance_select_type(request, compute_id):
     default_machine = app_settings.INSTANCE_MACHINE_DEFAULT_TYPE
     default_arch = app_settings.INSTANCE_ARCH_DEFAULT_TYPE
 
-    if request.method == "POST":
-        if "create_xml" in request.POST:
-            xml = request.POST.get("dom_xml", "")
-            try:
-                name = util.get_xml_path(xml, "/domain/name")
-            except util.etree.Error:
-                name = None
+    # a refused definition comes back in the editor, its reason beside it
+    xml_error = None
+    if request.method == "POST" and "create_xml" in request.POST:
+        xml = request.POST.get("dom_xml", "")
+        try:
+            name = util.get_xml_path(xml, "/domain/name")
             if name in instances:
-                error_msg = _("A virtual machine with this name already exists")
-                messages.error(request, error_msg)
+                xml_error = _("A virtual machine with this name already exists")
             else:
                 with libvirt_compute_lock(compute):
                     conn._defineXML(xml)
                     utils.refr(compute)
                     instance = compute.instance_set.get(name=name)
                 return redirect(reverse("instances:instance", args=[instance.id]))
+        except util.etree.Error as err:
+            xml_error = _("The XML is not well-formed: %(error)s") % {"error": err}
+        except libvirtError as err:
+            xml_error = _("libvirt Error - %(exception)s") % {"exception": error_text(request, err)}
 
     return render(request, "create_instance_w1.html", locals())