diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index 37f1a2b1fc..b1ef1b98fb 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -844,6 +844,7 @@ qemuCapsInitGuest(virCapsPtr caps,
     guest->arch.defaultInfo.emulator_mtime = binary_mtime;
 
     if (caps->host.cpu &&
+        caps->host.cpu->model &&
         qemuCapsProbeCPUModels(binary, NULL, info->arch, &ncpus, NULL) == 0 &&
         ncpus > 0 &&
         !virCapabilitiesAddGuestFeature(guest, "cpuselection", 1, 0))
@@ -973,12 +974,11 @@ qemuCapsInitCPU(virCapsPtr caps,
     cpu->sockets = nodeinfo.sockets;
     cpu->cores = nodeinfo.cores;
     cpu->threads = nodeinfo.threads;
+    caps->host.cpu = cpu;
 
     if (!(data = cpuNodeData(arch))
         || cpuDecode(cpu, data, NULL, 0, NULL) < 0)
-        goto error;
-
-    caps->host.cpu = cpu;
+        goto cleanup;
 
     ret = 0;
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 17ae3b9297..e23ff11879 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -1233,7 +1233,9 @@ qemuDomainDefFormatBuf(struct qemud_driver *driver,
     if ((flags & VIR_DOMAIN_XML_UPDATE_CPU) &&
         def_cpu &&
         (def_cpu->mode != VIR_CPU_MODE_CUSTOM || def_cpu->model)) {
-        if (!driver->caps || !driver->caps->host.cpu) {
+        if (!driver->caps ||
+            !driver->caps->host.cpu ||
+            !driver->caps->host.cpu->model) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_FAILED,
                            "%s", _("cannot get host CPU capabilities"));
             goto cleanup;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 0258dbbfb9..c1c8fa4fef 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -10083,7 +10083,8 @@ qemuCPUCompare(virConnectPtr conn,
     if (!driver->caps) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
                        "%s", _("cannot get host capabilities"));
-    } else if (!driver->caps->host.cpu) {
+    } else if (!driver->caps->host.cpu ||
+               !driver->caps->host.cpu->model) {
         VIR_WARN("cannot get host CPU capabilities");
         ret = VIR_CPU_COMPARE_INCOMPATIBLE;
     } else {