diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
index cde9899b11..96f246f5bb 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
@@ -1181,7 +1181,7 @@ int qemuMonitorJSONSetCPU(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
                           int cpu, int online)
 {
     int ret;
-    virJSONValuePtr cmd = qemuMonitorJSONMakeCommand("balloon",
+    virJSONValuePtr cmd = qemuMonitorJSONMakeCommand("cpu_set",
                                                      "U:cpu", (unsigned long long)cpu,
                                                      "s:state", online ? "online" : "offline",
                                                      NULL);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
index 6ad07b1c7f..db3806db68 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
@@ -800,7 +800,7 @@ int qemuMonitorTextSetBalloon(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
 
 
 /*
- * Returns: 0 if balloon not supported, +1 if balloon adjust worked
+ * Returns: 0 if CPU hotplug not supported, +1 if CPU hotplug worked
  * or -1 on failure
  */
 int qemuMonitorTextSetCPU(qemuMonitorPtr mon, int cpu, int online)
@@ -809,7 +809,7 @@ int qemuMonitorTextSetCPU(qemuMonitorPtr mon, int cpu, int online)
     char *reply = NULL;
     int ret = -1;
 
-    if (virAsprintf(&cmd, "set_cpu %d %s", cpu, online ? "online" : "offline") < 0) {
+    if (virAsprintf(&cmd, "cpu_set %d %s", cpu, online ? "online" : "offline") < 0) {
         virReportOOMError();
         return -1;
     }