diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index c17d26801e..fc46a380f6 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -2767,18 +2767,20 @@ virQEMUCapsProbeQMPGICCapabilities(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
 }
 
 
+/* Returns -1 on error, 0 if SEV is not supported, 1 if SEV is supported */
 static int
 virQEMUCapsProbeQMPSEVCapabilities(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
                                    qemuMonitorPtr mon)
 {
+    int rc = -1;
     virSEVCapability *caps = NULL;
 
-    if (qemuMonitorGetSEVCapabilities(mon, &caps) < 0)
-        return -1;
+    if ((rc = qemuMonitorGetSEVCapabilities(mon, &caps)) <= 0)
+        return rc;
 
     virSEVCapabilitiesFree(qemuCaps->sevCapabilities);
     qemuCaps->sevCapabilities = caps;
-    return 0;
+    return rc;
 }
 
 
@@ -4188,7 +4190,12 @@ virQEMUCapsInitQMPMonitor(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
 
     /* Probe for SEV capabilities */
     if (virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_SEV_GUEST)) {
-        if (virQEMUCapsProbeQMPSEVCapabilities(qemuCaps, mon) < 0)
+        int rc = virQEMUCapsProbeQMPSEVCapabilities(qemuCaps, mon);
+
+        if (rc < 0)
+            goto cleanup;
+
+        if (rc == 0)
             virQEMUCapsClear(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_SEV_GUEST);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
index 3f99f39120..ed6caf4c2f 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
@@ -6435,6 +6435,20 @@ qemuMonitorJSONGetGICCapabilities(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
 }
 
 
+/**
+ * qemuMonitorJSONGetSEVCapabilities:
+ * @mon: qemu monitor object
+ * @capabilities: pointer to pointer to a SEV capability structure to be filled
+ *
+ * This function queries and fills in AMD's SEV platform-specific data.
+ * Note that from QEMU's POV both -object sev-guest and query-sev-capabilities
+ * can be present even if SEV is not available, which basically leaves us with
+ * checking for JSON "GenericError" in order to differentiate between
+ * compiled-in support and actual SEV support on the platform.
+ *
+ * Returns -1 on error, 0 if SEV is not supported, and 1 if SEV is supported on
+ * the platform.
+ */
 int
 qemuMonitorJSONGetSEVCapabilities(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
                                   virSEVCapability **capabilities)
@@ -6458,8 +6472,7 @@ qemuMonitorJSONGetSEVCapabilities(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
     if (qemuMonitorJSONCommand(mon, cmd, &reply) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
-    /* Both -object sev-guest and query-sev-capabilities can be present
-     * even if SEV is not available */
+    /* QEMU has only compiled-in support of SEV */
     if (qemuMonitorJSONHasError(reply, "GenericError")) {
         ret = 0;
         goto cleanup;
@@ -6511,8 +6524,7 @@ qemuMonitorJSONGetSEVCapabilities(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
     capability->cbitpos = cbitpos;
     capability->reduced_phys_bits = reduced_phys_bits;
     VIR_STEAL_PTR(*capabilities, capability);
-    ret = 0;
-
+    ret = 1;
  cleanup:
     virJSONValueFree(cmd);
     virJSONValueFree(reply);
diff --git a/tests/qemucapabilitiesdata/caps_3.0.0.x86_64.xml b/tests/qemucapabilitiesdata/caps_3.0.0.x86_64.xml
index c8da1c5696..a9e8fe2dab 100644
--- a/tests/qemucapabilitiesdata/caps_3.0.0.x86_64.xml
+++ b/tests/qemucapabilitiesdata/caps_3.0.0.x86_64.xml
@@ -211,7 +211,6 @@
   <flag name='tpm-emulator'/>
   <flag name='mch'/>
   <flag name='mch.extended-tseg-mbytes'/>
-  <flag name='sev-guest'/>
   <flag name='usb-storage.werror'/>
   <flag name='egl-headless'/>
   <flag name='vfio-pci.display'/>