diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 62f1054393..7a99ed244f 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -4881,6 +4881,9 @@ qemuDomainSetVcpusAgent(virDomainObjPtr vm,
     if (qemuAgentUpdateCPUInfo(nvcpus, cpuinfo, ncpuinfo) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
+    if (!qemuDomainAgentAvailable(vm, true))
+        goto cleanup;
+
     qemuDomainObjEnterAgent(vm);
     ret = qemuAgentSetVCPUs(qemuDomainGetAgent(vm), cpuinfo, ncpuinfo);
     qemuDomainObjExitAgent(vm);