diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c b/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
index ecd2041570d1..5a403d92833f 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
@@ -4179,7 +4179,7 @@ int kvm_vm_ioctl_check_extension(struct kvm *kvm, long ext)
 		r = !static_call(kvm_x86_cpu_has_accelerated_tpr)();
 		break;
 	case KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS:
-		r = num_online_cpus();
+		r = min_t(unsigned int, num_online_cpus(), KVM_MAX_VCPUS);
 		break;
 	case KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS:
 		r = KVM_MAX_VCPUS;