diff --git a/src/conf/cpu_conf.c b/src/conf/cpu_conf.c
index 4a367a1f6b..f14b37ae19 100644
--- a/src/conf/cpu_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/cpu_conf.c
@@ -426,96 +426,6 @@ virCPUDefParseXML(xmlNodePtr node,
         def->features[i].policy = policy;
     }
 
-    if (virXPathNode("./numa[1]", ctxt)) {
-        VIR_FREE(nodes);
-        n = virXPathNodeSet("./numa[1]/cell", ctxt, &nodes);
-        if (n <= 0) {
-            virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR, "%s",
-                           _("NUMA topology defined without NUMA cells"));
-            goto error;
-        }
-
-        if (VIR_RESIZE_N(def->cells, def->ncells_max,
-                         def->ncells, n) < 0)
-            goto error;
-
-        def->ncells = n;
-
-        for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
-            char *cpus, *memAccessStr;
-            int ret, ncpus = 0;
-            unsigned int cur_cell;
-            char *tmp = NULL;
-
-            tmp = virXMLPropString(nodes[i], "id");
-            if (!tmp) {
-                cur_cell = i;
-            } else {
-                ret  = virStrToLong_ui(tmp, NULL, 10, &cur_cell);
-                if (ret == -1) {
-                    virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
-                                   _("Invalid 'id' attribute in NUMA cell: %s"),
-                                   tmp);
-                    VIR_FREE(tmp);
-                    goto error;
-                }
-                VIR_FREE(tmp);
-            }
-
-            if (cur_cell >= n) {
-                virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR, "%s",
-                               _("Exactly one 'cell' element per guest "
-                                 "NUMA cell allowed, non-contiguous ranges or "
-                                 "ranges not starting from 0 are not allowed"));
-                goto error;
-            }
-
-            if (def->cells[cur_cell].cpustr) {
-                virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
-                               _("Duplicate NUMA cell info for cell id '%u'"),
-                               cur_cell);
-                goto error;
-            }
-
-            cpus = virXMLPropString(nodes[i], "cpus");
-            if (!cpus) {
-                virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR, "%s",
-                               _("Missing 'cpus' attribute in NUMA cell"));
-                goto error;
-            }
-            def->cells[cur_cell].cpustr = cpus;
-
-            ncpus = virBitmapParse(cpus, 0, &def->cells[cur_cell].cpumask,
-                                   VIR_DOMAIN_CPUMASK_LEN);
-            if (ncpus <= 0)
-                goto error;
-            def->cells_cpus += ncpus;
-
-            ctxt->node = nodes[i];
-            if (virDomainParseMemory("./@memory", "./@unit", ctxt,
-                                     &def->cells[cur_cell].mem, true, false) < 0)
-                goto cleanup;
-
-            memAccessStr = virXMLPropString(nodes[i], "memAccess");
-            if (memAccessStr) {
-                int rc = virMemAccessTypeFromString(memAccessStr);
-
-                if (rc <= 0) {
-                    virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
-                                   _("Invalid 'memAccess' attribute "
-                                     "value '%s'"),
-                                   memAccessStr);
-                    VIR_FREE(memAccessStr);
-                    goto error;
-                }
-
-                def->cells[cur_cell].memAccess = rc;
-
-                VIR_FREE(memAccessStr);
-            }
-        }
-    }
-
  cleanup:
     ctxt->node = oldnode;
     VIR_FREE(fallback);
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 2e352934ca..98549e1089 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -13495,12 +13495,17 @@ virDomainDefParseXML(xmlDocPtr xml,
             goto error;
         }
 
-        if (def->cpu->cells_cpus > def->maxvcpus) {
-            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
-                           _("Number of CPUs in <numa> exceeds the"
-                             " <vcpu> count"));
-            goto error;
-        }
+    }
+
+    if (virDomainNumaDefCPUParseXML(def->cpu, ctxt) < 0)
+        goto error;
+
+    if (def->cpu &&
+        def->cpu->cells_cpus > def->maxvcpus) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                       _("Number of CPUs in <numa> exceeds the"
+                         " <vcpu> count"));
+        goto error;
     }
 
     if (virDomainNumatuneParseXML(&def->numatune,
diff --git a/src/conf/numa_conf.c b/src/conf/numa_conf.c
index 0bbc136e59..b4f0fca13e 100644
--- a/src/conf/numa_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/numa_conf.c
@@ -680,3 +680,114 @@ virDomainNumatuneNodesetIsAvailable(virDomainNumatunePtr numatune,
 
     return true;
 }
+
+
+int
+virDomainNumaDefCPUParseXML(virCPUDefPtr def,
+                            xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt)
+{
+    xmlNodePtr *nodes = NULL;
+    xmlNodePtr oldNode = ctxt->node;
+    int n;
+    size_t i;
+    int ret = -1;
+
+    if (virXPathNode("/domain/cpu/numa[1]", ctxt)) {
+        VIR_FREE(nodes);
+
+        n = virXPathNodeSet("/domain/cpu/numa[1]/cell", ctxt, &nodes);
+        if (n <= 0) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR, "%s",
+                           _("NUMA topology defined without NUMA cells"));
+            goto error;
+        }
+
+        if (VIR_RESIZE_N(def->cells, def->ncells_max,
+                         def->ncells, n) < 0)
+            goto error;
+
+        def->ncells = n;
+
+        for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+            char *cpus, *memAccessStr;
+            int rc, ncpus = 0;
+            unsigned int cur_cell;
+            char *tmp = NULL;
+
+            tmp = virXMLPropString(nodes[i], "id");
+            if (!tmp) {
+                cur_cell = i;
+            } else {
+                rc  = virStrToLong_ui(tmp, NULL, 10, &cur_cell);
+                if (rc == -1) {
+                    virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
+                                   _("Invalid 'id' attribute in NUMA cell: %s"),
+                                   tmp);
+                    VIR_FREE(tmp);
+                    goto error;
+                }
+                VIR_FREE(tmp);
+            }
+
+            if (cur_cell >= n) {
+                virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR, "%s",
+                               _("Exactly one 'cell' element per guest "
+                                 "NUMA cell allowed, non-contiguous ranges or "
+                                 "ranges not starting from 0 are not allowed"));
+                goto error;
+            }
+
+            if (def->cells[cur_cell].cpustr) {
+                virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
+                               _("Duplicate NUMA cell info for cell id '%u'"),
+                               cur_cell);
+                goto error;
+            }
+
+            cpus = virXMLPropString(nodes[i], "cpus");
+            if (!cpus) {
+                virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR, "%s",
+                               _("Missing 'cpus' attribute in NUMA cell"));
+                goto error;
+            }
+            def->cells[cur_cell].cpustr = cpus;
+
+            ncpus = virBitmapParse(cpus, 0, &def->cells[cur_cell].cpumask,
+                                   VIR_DOMAIN_CPUMASK_LEN);
+            if (ncpus <= 0)
+                goto error;
+            def->cells_cpus += ncpus;
+
+            ctxt->node = nodes[i];
+            if (virDomainParseMemory("./@memory", "./@unit", ctxt,
+                                     &def->cells[cur_cell].mem, true, false) < 0)
+                goto cleanup;
+
+            memAccessStr = virXMLPropString(nodes[i], "memAccess");
+            if (memAccessStr) {
+                rc = virMemAccessTypeFromString(memAccessStr);
+
+                if (rc <= 0) {
+                    virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
+                                   _("Invalid 'memAccess' attribute "
+                                     "value '%s'"),
+                                   memAccessStr);
+                    VIR_FREE(memAccessStr);
+                    goto error;
+                }
+
+                def->cells[cur_cell].memAccess = rc;
+
+                VIR_FREE(memAccessStr);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    ret = 0;
+
+ error:
+ cleanup:
+    ctxt->node = oldNode;
+    VIR_FREE(nodes);
+    return ret;
+}
diff --git a/src/conf/numa_conf.h b/src/conf/numa_conf.h
index 4891f15694..78b24a1bc1 100644
--- a/src/conf/numa_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/numa_conf.h
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 # include "virutil.h"
 # include "virbitmap.h"
 # include "virbuffer.h"
+# include "cpu_conf.h"
 
 
 typedef struct _virDomainNumatune virDomainNumatune;
@@ -114,4 +115,7 @@ bool virDomainNumatuneNodesetIsAvailable(virDomainNumatunePtr numatune,
 
 bool virDomainNumatuneNodeSpecified(virDomainNumatunePtr numatune,
                                     int cellid);
+
+int virDomainNumaDefCPUParseXML(virCPUDefPtr def, xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt);
+
 #endif /* __NUMA_CONF_H__ */