diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/fakelibvirt.py b/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/fakelibvirt.py
index d95661cdff58..502179129b81 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/fakelibvirt.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/fakelibvirt.py
@@ -150,8 +150,8 @@ VIR_SECRET_USAGE_TYPE_VOLUME = 1
 VIR_SECRET_USAGE_TYPE_CEPH = 2
 VIR_SECRET_USAGE_TYPE_ISCSI = 3
 
-# Libvirt version
-FAKE_LIBVIRT_VERSION = 10002
+# Libvirt version to match MIN_LIBVIRT_VERSION in driver.py
+FAKE_LIBVIRT_VERSION = 1002001
 
 
 class HostInfo(object):
diff --git a/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py b/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
index d02011a7ff70..4165598d2301 100644
--- a/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
+++ b/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ patch_tpool_proxy()
 # versions. Over time, this will become a common min version
 # for all architectures/hypervisors, as this value rises to
 # meet them.
-MIN_LIBVIRT_VERSION = (0, 10, 2)
+MIN_LIBVIRT_VERSION = (1, 2, 1)
 # TODO(berrange): Re-evaluate this at start of each release cycle
 # to decide if we want to plan a future min version bump.
 # MIN_LIBVIRT_VERSION can be updated to match this after
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/min-required-libvirt-b948948949669b02.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/min-required-libvirt-b948948949669b02.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ef99476fd49d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/min-required-libvirt-b948948949669b02.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - The minimum required version of libvirt has been
+    increased to 1.2.1