diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 0de35efb25..5030ec3a15 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -674,6 +674,7 @@ virNodeDeviceObjUnlock;
 virDomainNumaCheckABIStability;
 virDomainNumaEquals;
 virDomainNumaFree;
+virDomainNumaGetCPUCountTotal;
 virDomainNumaGetMaxCPUID;
 virDomainNumaGetMemorySize;
 virDomainNumaGetNodeCount;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 5992492ebd..e5badf637a 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -4903,6 +4903,13 @@ qemuDomainSetVcpusFlags(virDomainPtr dom, unsigned int nvcpus,
 
     if (persistentDef) {
         if (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_VCPU_MAXIMUM) {
+            if (virDomainNumaGetCPUCountTotal(persistentDef->numa) > nvcpus) {
+                virReportError(VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG, "%s",
+                               _("Number of CPUs in <numa> exceeds the desired "
+                                 "maximum vcpu count"));
+                goto endjob;
+            }
+
             if (virDomainDefSetVcpusMax(persistentDef, nvcpus) < 0)
                 goto endjob;
         } else {