diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 2569772ec2..80d5e86d0e 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -2059,7 +2059,7 @@ virNodeSuspendGetTargetMask;
 # util/virnuma.h
 virNumaGetAutoPlacementAdvice;
 virNumaGetDistances;
-virNumaGetHostNodeset;
+virNumaGetHostMemoryNodeset;
 virNumaGetMaxNode;
 virNumaGetNodeMemory;
 virNumaGetPageInfo;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c b/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c
index fe94613b77..4bce601fac 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c
@@ -860,7 +860,7 @@ qemuRestoreCgroupState(virDomainObjPtr vm)
     virBitmapPtr all_nodes;
     virCgroupPtr cgroup_temp = NULL;
 
-    if (!(all_nodes = virNumaGetHostNodeset()))
+    if (!(all_nodes = virNumaGetHostMemoryNodeset()))
         goto error;
 
     if (!(mem_mask = virBitmapFormat(all_nodes)))
@@ -1166,7 +1166,7 @@ qemuCgroupEmulatorAllNodesAllow(virCgroupPtr cgroup,
         !virCgroupHasController(cgroup, VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPUSET))
         return 0;
 
-    if (!(all_nodes = virNumaGetHostNodeset()))
+    if (!(all_nodes = virNumaGetHostMemoryNodeset()))
         goto cleanup;
 
     if (!(all_nodes_str = virBitmapFormat(all_nodes)))
diff --git a/src/util/virnuma.c b/src/util/virnuma.c
index c4d11fa6e0..bebe301f8d 100644
--- a/src/util/virnuma.c
+++ b/src/util/virnuma.c
@@ -987,10 +987,17 @@ virNumaNodesetIsAvailable(virBitmapPtr nodeset)
     return true;
 }
 
+
+/**
+ * virNumaGetHostMemoryNodeset:
+ *
+ * Returns a bitmap of guest numa node ids that contain memory.
+ */
 virBitmapPtr
-virNumaGetHostNodeset(void)
+virNumaGetHostMemoryNodeset(void)
 {
     int maxnode = virNumaGetMaxNode();
+    unsigned long long nodesize;
     size_t i = 0;
     virBitmapPtr nodeset = NULL;
 
@@ -1004,7 +1011,9 @@ virNumaGetHostNodeset(void)
         if (!virNumaNodeIsAvailable(i))
             continue;
 
-        ignore_value(virBitmapSetBit(nodeset, i));
+        /* if we can't detect NUMA node size assume that it's present */
+        if (virNumaGetNodeMemory(i, &nodesize, NULL) < 0 || nodesize > 0)
+            ignore_value(virBitmapSetBit(nodeset, i));
     }
 
     return nodeset;
diff --git a/src/util/virnuma.h b/src/util/virnuma.h
index 1f3c0ad8a7..f3eef324a4 100644
--- a/src/util/virnuma.h
+++ b/src/util/virnuma.h
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ char *virNumaGetAutoPlacementAdvice(unsigned short vcups,
 int virNumaSetupMemoryPolicy(virDomainNumatuneMemMode mode,
                              virBitmapPtr nodeset);
 
-virBitmapPtr virNumaGetHostNodeset(void);
+virBitmapPtr virNumaGetHostMemoryNodeset(void);
 bool virNumaNodesetIsAvailable(virBitmapPtr nodeset);
 bool virNumaIsAvailable(void);
 int virNumaGetMaxNode(void);