diff --git a/src/nodeinfo.c b/src/nodeinfo.c
index acd3188472..22d53e53be 100644
--- a/src/nodeinfo.c
+++ b/src/nodeinfo.c
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@
 
 /* NB, this is not static as we need to call it from the testsuite */
 int linuxNodeInfoCPUPopulate(FILE *cpuinfo,
-                             virNodeInfoPtr nodeinfo);
+                             virNodeInfoPtr nodeinfo,
+                             bool need_hyperthreads);
 
 /* Return the positive decimal contents of the given
  * CPU_SYS_PATH/cpu%u/FILE, or -1 on error.  If MISSING_OK and the
@@ -167,7 +168,8 @@ static int parse_socket(unsigned int cpu)
 }
 
 int linuxNodeInfoCPUPopulate(FILE *cpuinfo,
-                             virNodeInfoPtr nodeinfo)
+                             virNodeInfoPtr nodeinfo,
+                             bool need_hyperthreads)
 {
     char line[1024];
     DIR *cpudir = NULL;
@@ -244,6 +246,9 @@ int linuxNodeInfoCPUPopulate(FILE *cpuinfo,
         return -1;
     }
 
+    if (!need_hyperthreads)
+        return 0;
+
     /* OK, we've parsed what we can out of /proc/cpuinfo.  Get the socket
      * and thread information from /sys
      */
@@ -338,7 +343,7 @@ int nodeGetInfo(virConnectPtr conn ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED, virNodeInfoPtr nodeinfo) {
                              _("cannot open %s"), CPUINFO_PATH);
         return -1;
     }
-    ret = linuxNodeInfoCPUPopulate(cpuinfo, nodeinfo);
+    ret = linuxNodeInfoCPUPopulate(cpuinfo, nodeinfo, true);
     VIR_FORCE_FCLOSE(cpuinfo);
     if (ret < 0)
         return -1;
diff --git a/tests/nodeinfotest.c b/tests/nodeinfotest.c
index f56247b854..c690403503 100644
--- a/tests/nodeinfotest.c
+++ b/tests/nodeinfotest.c
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ static char *abs_srcdir;
 
 # define MAX_FILE 4096
 
-extern int linuxNodeInfoCPUPopulate(FILE *cpuinfo, virNodeInfoPtr nodeinfo);
+extern int linuxNodeInfoCPUPopulate(FILE *cpuinfo, virNodeInfoPtr nodeinfo,
+                                    bool need_hyperthreads);
 
 static int linuxTestCompareFiles(const char *cpuinfofile, const char *outputfile) {
     char actualData[MAX_FILE];
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ static int linuxTestCompareFiles(const char *cpuinfofile, const char *outputfile
         return -1;
 
     memset(&nodeinfo, 0, sizeof(nodeinfo));
-    if (linuxNodeInfoCPUPopulate(cpuinfo, &nodeinfo) < 0) {
+    if (linuxNodeInfoCPUPopulate(cpuinfo, &nodeinfo, false) < 0) {
         if (virTestGetDebug()) {
             virErrorPtr error = virSaveLastError();
             if (error && error->code != VIR_ERR_OK)