diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index a90d304160..57098ee5a5 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -9995,6 +9995,9 @@ qemuDomainSetNumaParamsLive(virDomainObjPtr vm,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
+    if (!virNumaNodesetIsAvailable(nodeset))
+        goto cleanup;
+
     /* Ensure the cpuset string is formatted before passing to cgroup */
     if (!(nodeset_str = virBitmapFormat(nodeset)))
         goto cleanup;