diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index d6496c2622..f249de903a 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -3898,9 +3898,9 @@ qemuProcessSPICEAllocatePorts(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
 }
 
 
-static int
-qemuValidateCpuCount(virDomainDefPtr def,
-                     virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps)
+int
+qemuProcessValidateCpuCount(const virDomainDef *def,
+                            virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps)
 {
     unsigned int maxCpus = virQEMUCapsGetMachineMaxCpus(qemuCaps, def->os.machine);
 
@@ -5165,7 +5165,7 @@ qemuProcessStartValidateXML(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
      * If back compat isn't a concern, XML validation should probably
      * be done at parse time.
      */
-    if (qemuValidateCpuCount(vm->def, qemuCaps) < 0)
+    if (qemuProcessValidateCpuCount(vm->def, qemuCaps) < 0)
         return -1;
 
     /* checks below should not be executed when starting a qemu process for a
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.h b/src/qemu/qemu_process.h
index 2037467c94..d3b2baac51 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.h
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ int qemuProcessDestroyMemoryBackingPath(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
                                         virDomainObjPtr vm,
                                         virDomainMemoryDefPtr mem);
 
+int qemuProcessValidateCpuCount(const virDomainDef *def,
+                                virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps);
+
 void qemuProcessReconnectAll(virQEMUDriverPtr driver);
 
 typedef struct _qemuProcessIncomingDef qemuProcessIncomingDef;