diff --git a/HACKING.rst b/HACKING.rst
index c9f9db450071..d2d9d51ab8e2 100644
--- a/HACKING.rst
+++ b/HACKING.rst
@@ -13,6 +13,12 @@ Nova Specific Commandments
   This enforces a guideline defined in ``nova.openstack.common.db.sqlalchemy.session``
 - [N310] timeutils.utcnow() wrapper must be used instead of direct calls to
   datetime.datetime.utcnow() to make it easy to override its return value in tests
+- [N311] importing code from other virt drivers forbidden
+  Code that needs to be shared between virt drivers should be moved
+  into a common module
+- [N312] using config vars from other virt drivers forbidden
+  Config parameters that need to be shared between virt drivers
+  should be moved into a common module
 - [N123] vim configuration should not be kept in source files.
 
 Creating Unit Tests
diff --git a/nova/hacking/checks.py b/nova/hacking/checks.py
index c7230e1b5706..411fd5a88703 100644
--- a/nova/hacking/checks.py
+++ b/nova/hacking/checks.py
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ import re
 session_check = re.compile("\w*def [a-zA-Z0-9].*[(].*session.*[)]")
 cfg_re = re.compile(".*\scfg\.")
 vi_header_re = re.compile("^#\s+vim?:.+")
+virt_file_re = re.compile("\./nova/(?:tests/)?virt/(\w+)/")
+virt_import_re = re.compile("from nova\.(?:tests\.)?virt\.(\w+) import")
+virt_config_re = re.compile("CONF\.import_opt\('.*?', 'nova\.virt\.(\w+)('|.)")
 
 
 def import_no_db_in_virt(logical_line, filename):
@@ -49,6 +52,59 @@ def use_timeutils_utcnow(logical_line):
             yield (pos, msg % f)
 
 
+def _get_virt_name(regex, data):
+    m = regex.match(data)
+    if m is None:
+        return None
+    driver = m.group(1)
+    # Ignore things we mis-detect as virt drivers in the regex
+    if driver in ["test_virt_drivers", "driver",
+                  "disk", "api", "imagecache", "cpu"]:
+        return None
+    # TODO(berrange): remove once bugs 1261826 and 126182 are
+    # fixed, or baremetal driver is removed, which is first.
+    if driver == "baremetal":
+        return None
+    return driver
+
+
+def import_no_virt_driver_import_deps(physical_line, filename):
+    """Check virt drivers' modules aren't imported by other drivers
+
+    Modules under each virt driver's directory are
+    considered private to that virt driver. Other drivers
+    in Nova must not access those drivers. Any code that
+    is to be shared should be refactored into a common
+    module
+
+    N311
+    """
+    thisdriver = _get_virt_name(virt_file_re, filename)
+    thatdriver = _get_virt_name(virt_import_re, physical_line)
+    if (thatdriver is not None and
+        thisdriver is not None and
+        thisdriver != thatdriver):
+        return (0, "N312: importing code from other virt drivers forbidden")
+
+
+def import_no_virt_driver_config_deps(physical_line, filename):
+    """Check virt drivers' config vars aren't used by other drivers
+
+    Modules under each virt driver's directory are
+    considered private to that virt driver. Other drivers
+    in Nova must not use their config vars. Any config vars
+    that are to be shared should be moved into a common module
+
+    N312
+    """
+    thisdriver = _get_virt_name(virt_file_re, filename)
+    thatdriver = _get_virt_name(virt_config_re, physical_line)
+    if (thatdriver is not None and
+        thisdriver is not None and
+        thisdriver != thatdriver):
+        return (0, "N313: using config vars from other virt drivers forbidden")
+
+
 def capital_cfg_help(logical_line, tokens):
     msg = "N500: capitalize help string"
 
@@ -78,5 +134,7 @@ def factory(register):
     register(import_no_db_in_virt)
     register(no_db_session_in_public_api)
     register(use_timeutils_utcnow)
+    register(import_no_virt_driver_import_deps)
+    register(import_no_virt_driver_config_deps)
     register(capital_cfg_help)
     register(no_vi_headers)
diff --git a/nova/tests/test_hacking.py b/nova/tests/test_hacking.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e175169c9996
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nova/tests/test_hacking.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+#    Copyright 2014 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+from nova.hacking import checks
+from nova import test
+
+
+class HackingTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
+    def test_virt_driver_imports(self):
+        self.assertTrue(checks.import_no_virt_driver_import_deps(
+            "from nova.virt.libvirt import utils as libvirt_utils",
+            "./nova/virt/xenapi/driver.py"))
+
+        self.assertIsNone(checks.import_no_virt_driver_import_deps(
+            "from nova.virt.libvirt import utils as libvirt_utils",
+            "./nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py"))
+
+    def test_virt_driver_config_vars(self):
+        self.assertTrue(checks.import_no_virt_driver_config_deps(
+            "CONF.import_opt('volume_drivers', "
+            "'nova.virt.libvirt.driver', group='libvirt')",
+            "./nova/virt/xenapi/driver.py"))
+
+        self.assertIsNone(checks.import_no_virt_driver_config_deps(
+            "CONF.import_opt('volume_drivers', "
+            "'nova.virt.libvirt.driver', group='libvirt')",
+            "./nova/virt/libvirt/volume.py"))