diff --git a/java/framework/src/android/system/virtualmachine/VirtualMachine.java b/java/framework/src/android/system/virtualmachine/VirtualMachine.java
index dd2719c..c5778fb 100644
--- a/java/framework/src/android/system/virtualmachine/VirtualMachine.java
+++ b/java/framework/src/android/system/virtualmachine/VirtualMachine.java
@@ -433,6 +433,7 @@
                 config.serialize(vm.mConfigFilePath);
                 if (vm.mInstanceIdPath != null) {
                     vm.importInstanceIdFrom(vmDescriptor.getInstanceIdFd());
+                    vm.claimInstance();
                 }
 
                 try {
@@ -598,6 +599,23 @@
         }
     }
 
+    // Claim the instance. This notifies the global VS about the ownership of this
+    // instance_id for housekeeping purpose.
+    void claimInstance() throws VirtualMachineException {
+        if (mInstanceIdPath != null) {
+            IVirtualizationService service = mVirtualizationService.getBinder();
+            try {
+                byte[] instanceId = Files.readAllBytes(mInstanceIdPath.toPath());
+                service.claimVmInstance(instanceId);
+            }
+            catch (IOException e) {
+                throw new VirtualMachineException("failed to read instance_id", e);
+            } catch (RemoteException e) {
+                throw e.rethrowAsRuntimeException();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     @GuardedBy("VirtualMachineManager.sCreateLock")
     @NonNull
     private static File createVmDir(@NonNull Context context, @NonNull String name)
diff --git a/java/framework/src/android/system/virtualmachine/VirtualMachineManager.java b/java/framework/src/android/system/virtualmachine/VirtualMachineManager.java
index 091d317..0b9b629 100644
--- a/java/framework/src/android/system/virtualmachine/VirtualMachineManager.java
+++ b/java/framework/src/android/system/virtualmachine/VirtualMachineManager.java
@@ -284,11 +284,12 @@
     public VirtualMachine importFromDescriptor(
             @NonNull String name, @NonNull VirtualMachineDescriptor vmDescriptor)
             throws VirtualMachineException {
+        VirtualMachine vm;
         synchronized (sCreateLock) {
-            VirtualMachine vm = VirtualMachine.fromDescriptor(mContext, name, vmDescriptor);
+            vm = VirtualMachine.fromDescriptor(mContext, name, vmDescriptor);
             mVmsByName.put(name, new WeakReference<>(vm));
-            return vm;
         }
+        return vm;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/virtualizationmanager/src/aidl.rs b/virtualizationmanager/src/aidl.rs
index b8c6315..a9ccd88 100644
--- a/virtualizationmanager/src/aidl.rs
+++ b/virtualizationmanager/src/aidl.rs
@@ -231,6 +231,7 @@
 
     /// Allocate a new instance_id to the VM
     fn allocateInstanceId(&self) -> binder::Result<[u8; 64]> {
+        check_manage_access()?;
         GLOBAL_SERVICE.allocateInstanceId()
     }
 
@@ -326,6 +327,11 @@
         check_manage_access()?;
         Ok(is_secretkeeper_supported())
     }
+
+    fn claimVmInstance(&self, instance_id: &[u8; 64]) -> binder::Result<()> {
+        check_manage_access()?;
+        GLOBAL_SERVICE.claimVmInstance(instance_id)
+    }
 }
 
 impl VirtualizationService {
diff --git a/virtualizationservice/aidl/android/system/virtualizationservice/IVirtualizationService.aidl b/virtualizationservice/aidl/android/system/virtualizationservice/IVirtualizationService.aidl
index 462932c..ab821a9 100644
--- a/virtualizationservice/aidl/android/system/virtualizationservice/IVirtualizationService.aidl
+++ b/virtualizationservice/aidl/android/system/virtualizationservice/IVirtualizationService.aidl
@@ -98,4 +98,12 @@
      * For more info see packages/modules/Virtualization/docs/updatable_vm.md
      */
     boolean isUpdatableVmSupported();
+
+    /**
+     * Notification that ownership of a VM has been claimed by the caller.  Note that no permission
+     * checks (with respect to the previous owner) are performed.
+     *
+     * @param instanceId The ID for the VM.
+     */
+    void claimVmInstance(in byte[64] instanceId);
 }