diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 33ce0ad992..72874ee4fd 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -4963,6 +4963,50 @@ qemuDomainDefTsegPostParse(virDomainDefPtr def,
 }
 
 
+/**
+ * qemuDomainDefNumaCPUsRectify:
+ * @numa: pointer to numa definition
+ * @maxCpus: number of CPUs this numa is supposed to have
+ *
+ * This function emulates the (to be deprecated) behavior of filling
+ * up in node0 with the remaining CPUs, in case of an incomplete NUMA
+ * setup, up to getVcpusMax.
+ *
+ * Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error
+ */
+int
+qemuDomainDefNumaCPUsRectify(virDomainDefPtr def, virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps)
+{
+    unsigned int vcpusMax, numacpus;
+
+    /* QEMU_CAPS_NUMA tells us if QEMU is able to handle disjointed
+     * NUMA CPU ranges. The filling process will create a disjointed
+     * setup in node0 most of the time. Do not proceed if QEMU
+     * can't handle it.*/
+    if (virDomainNumaGetNodeCount(def->numa) == 0 ||
+        !virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_NUMA))
+        return 0;
+
+    vcpusMax = virDomainDefGetVcpusMax(def);
+    numacpus = virDomainNumaGetCPUCountTotal(def->numa);
+
+    if (numacpus < vcpusMax) {
+        if (virDomainNumaFillCPUsInNode(def->numa, 0, vcpusMax) < 0)
+            return -1;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
+static int
+qemuDomainDefNumaCPUsPostParse(virDomainDefPtr def,
+                               virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps)
+{
+    return qemuDomainDefNumaCPUsRectify(def, qemuCaps);
+}
+
+
 static int
 qemuDomainDefPostParseBasic(virDomainDefPtr def,
                             void *opaque G_GNUC_UNUSED)
@@ -5049,6 +5093,9 @@ qemuDomainDefPostParse(virDomainDefPtr def,
     if (qemuDomainDefTsegPostParse(def, qemuCaps) < 0)
         return -1;
 
+    if (qemuDomainDefNumaCPUsPostParse(def, qemuCaps) < 0)
+        return -1;
+
     return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
index 41d3f1561d..e78a2b935d 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
@@ -1297,3 +1297,7 @@ qemuDomainInitializePflashStorageSource(virDomainObjPtr vm);
 bool
 qemuDomainDiskBlockJobIsSupported(virDomainObjPtr vm,
                                   virDomainDiskDefPtr disk);
+
+int
+qemuDomainDefNumaCPUsRectify(virDomainDefPtr def,
+                             virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index e482d08f3a..0424f0785f 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -4994,11 +4994,13 @@ qemuDomainSetVcpusAgent(virDomainObjPtr vm,
 
 static int
 qemuDomainSetVcpusMax(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
+                      virDomainObjPtr vm,
                       virDomainDefPtr def,
                       virDomainDefPtr persistentDef,
                       unsigned int nvcpus)
 {
     g_autoptr(virQEMUDriverConfig) cfg = virQEMUDriverGetConfig(driver);
+    qemuDomainObjPrivatePtr priv = vm->privateData;
     unsigned int topologycpus;
 
     if (def) {
@@ -5029,6 +5031,9 @@ qemuDomainSetVcpusMax(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
     if (virDomainDefSetVcpusMax(persistentDef, nvcpus, driver->xmlopt) < 0)
         return -1;
 
+    if (qemuDomainDefNumaCPUsRectify(persistentDef, priv->qemuCaps) < 0)
+        return -1;
+
     if (virDomainDefSave(persistentDef, driver->xmlopt, cfg->configDir) < 0)
         return -1;
 
@@ -5076,7 +5081,7 @@ qemuDomainSetVcpusFlags(virDomainPtr dom,
     if (useAgent)
         ret = qemuDomainSetVcpusAgent(vm, nvcpus);
     else if (flags & VIR_DOMAIN_VCPU_MAXIMUM)
-        ret = qemuDomainSetVcpusMax(driver, def, persistentDef, nvcpus);
+        ret = qemuDomainSetVcpusMax(driver, vm, def, persistentDef, nvcpus);
     else
         ret = qemuDomainSetVcpusInternal(driver, vm, def, persistentDef,
                                          nvcpus, hotpluggable);