diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 44e832f57e..21f82625c0 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -4115,8 +4115,12 @@ qemuDomainDefTPMsPostParse(virDomainDefPtr def)
         virDomainTPMDefPtr tpm = def->tpms[i];
 
         /* TPM 1.2 and 2 are not compatible, so we choose a specific version here */
-        if (tpm->version == VIR_DOMAIN_TPM_VERSION_DEFAULT)
-            tpm->version = VIR_DOMAIN_TPM_VERSION_1_2;
+        if (tpm->version == VIR_DOMAIN_TPM_VERSION_DEFAULT) {
+            if (tpm->model == VIR_DOMAIN_TPM_MODEL_SPAPR)
+                tpm->version = VIR_DOMAIN_TPM_VERSION_2_0;
+            else
+                tpm->version = VIR_DOMAIN_TPM_VERSION_1_2;
+        }
 
         if (tpm->model == VIR_DOMAIN_TPM_MODEL_SPAPR_PROXY) {
             if (proxyTPM) {
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c b/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
index d130b52bf2..488f258d00 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
@@ -3654,6 +3654,12 @@ qemuValidateDomainDeviceDefTPM(virDomainTPMDef *tpm,
                            virDomainTPMModelTypeToString(tpm->model));
             return -1;
         }
+        /* TPM 1.2 + SPAPR do not work with any 'type' (backend) */
+        if (tpm->model == VIR_DOMAIN_TPM_MODEL_SPAPR) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                           _("TPM 1.2 is not supported with the SPAPR device model"));
+            return -1;
+        }
         break;
     case VIR_DOMAIN_TPM_VERSION_2_0:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_TPM_VERSION_DEFAULT: