[QPID-5823]: Python client should create a node with name starting '\#', allow customization of autoDel and excl flags
diff --git a/qpid/messaging/driver.py b/qpid/messaging/driver.py
index 97bf1b8..e7d564f 100644
--- a/qpid/messaging/driver.py
+++ b/qpid/messaging/driver.py
@@ -962,8 +962,11 @@
             lnk.options['node'] = {}
           if 'x-declare' not in lnk.options['node']:
             lnk.options['node']['x-declare'] = {}
-          lnk.options['node']['x-declare']['auto-delete'] = "True"
-          lnk.options['node']['x-declare']['exclusive'] = "True"
+          xdeclare = lnk.options['node']['x-declare']
+          if 'auto-delete' not in xdeclare:
+            xdeclare['auto-delete'] = "True"
+          if 'exclusive' not in xdeclare:
+            xdeclare['exclusive'] = "True"
       except address.LexError, e:
         return MalformedAddress(text=str(e))
       except address.ParseError, e: