The physiologic role of CXCR4 on hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) is not fully understood. Here, we show that radioprotection of lethally irradiated mice by embryonic day 14.5 (E14.5) CXCR4^–/– fetal liver (FL) cells was markedly impaired when compared with CXCR4^+/+ counterparts, but this defect was rescued when hosts were engrafted with high cell numbers. This quantitative defect contrasted with a similar content in hematopoietic colony-forming cells (CFCs), splenic colony-forming units (CFUs-S), and Lin^– Sca-1⁺ c-kit⁺ cells in E14.5 CXCR4^–/– and CXCR4^+/+ livers. In addition, the homing of HSPCs in the bone marrow was not altered as detected with a CFSE-staining assay. In contrast, a 30-fold increase in CFCs was seen in the circulation of mice stably reconstituted with CXCR4^–/– FL cells and this increment was already observed before hematopoiesis had reached a steady-state level. Together, the data strongly suggest that impaired retention may, at least in short-term hematopoietic reconstitution, lead to a diminution in the number of available progenitors required for radioprotection.