diff --git a/include/sysemu/kvm.h b/include/sysemu/kvm.h
index f9f00e2e56..f357ccde91 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/kvm.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/kvm.h
@@ -345,6 +345,8 @@ int kvm_arch_init(MachineState *ms, KVMState *s);
 
 int kvm_arch_init_vcpu(CPUState *cpu);
 
+bool kvm_vcpu_id_is_valid(int vcpu_id);
+
 /* Returns VCPU ID to be used on KVM_CREATE_VCPU ioctl() */
 unsigned long kvm_arch_vcpu_id(CPUState *cpu);
 
diff --git a/kvm-all.c b/kvm-all.c
index f9ae8f9bf8..e56f385278 100644
--- a/kvm-all.c
+++ b/kvm-all.c
@@ -1459,6 +1459,12 @@ static int kvm_max_vcpus(KVMState *s)
     return (ret) ? ret : kvm_recommended_vcpus(s);
 }
 
+bool kvm_vcpu_id_is_valid(int vcpu_id)
+{
+    KVMState *s = KVM_STATE(current_machine->accelerator);
+    return vcpu_id >= 0 && vcpu_id < kvm_max_vcpus(s);
+}
+
 static int kvm_init(MachineState *ms)
 {
     MachineClass *mc = MACHINE_GET_CLASS(ms);
diff --git a/target-ppc/translate_init.c b/target-ppc/translate_init.c
index 954195f5e4..a003c1029d 100644
--- a/target-ppc/translate_init.c
+++ b/target-ppc/translate_init.c
@@ -9231,6 +9231,14 @@ static void ppc_cpu_realizefn(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
 #if !defined(CONFIG_USER_ONLY)
     cpu->cpu_dt_id = (cs->cpu_index / smp_threads) * max_smt
         + (cs->cpu_index % smp_threads);
+
+    if (kvm_enabled() && !kvm_vcpu_id_is_valid(cpu->cpu_dt_id)) {
+        error_setg(errp, "Can't create CPU with id %d in KVM", cpu->cpu_dt_id);
+        error_append_hint(errp, "Adjust the number of cpus to %d "
+                          "or try to raise the number of threads per core\n",
+                          cpu->cpu_dt_id * smp_threads / max_smt);
+        return;
+    }
 #endif
 
     if (tcg_enabled()) {