diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 69a2db686e..9d44500db0 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -4159,7 +4159,10 @@ qemuDomainDefaultPanicModel(const virDomainDef *def)
     if (ARCH_IS_S390(def->os.arch))
         return VIR_DOMAIN_PANIC_MODEL_S390;
 
-    return VIR_DOMAIN_PANIC_MODEL_ISA;
+    if (ARCH_IS_X86(def->os.arch))
+        return VIR_DOMAIN_PANIC_MODEL_ISA;
+
+    return VIR_DOMAIN_PANIC_MODEL_DEFAULT;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c b/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
index 3c40f76c12..1954daea52 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
@@ -1048,8 +1048,12 @@ qemuValidateDomainDefPanic(const virDomainDef *def,
             }
             break;
 
-        /* default model value was changed before in post parse */
         case VIR_DOMAIN_PANIC_MODEL_DEFAULT:
+            /* PostParse couldn't figure out a sensible default model */
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                           _("no panic model provided, and no default for the architecture and machine type"));
+            return -1;
+
         case VIR_DOMAIN_PANIC_MODEL_LAST:
             break;
         }
diff --git a/tests/qemuxmlconfdata/aarch64-panic-no-model.aarch64-latest.err b/tests/qemuxmlconfdata/aarch64-panic-no-model.aarch64-latest.err
index 8e3f2c194d..139249bbc5 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxmlconfdata/aarch64-panic-no-model.aarch64-latest.err
+++ b/tests/qemuxmlconfdata/aarch64-panic-no-model.aarch64-latest.err
@@ -1 +1 @@
-unsupported configuration: the QEMU binary does not support the ISA panic device
+unsupported configuration: no panic model provided, and no default for the architecture and machine type
diff --git a/tests/qemuxmlconfdata/riscv64-panic-no-model.riscv64-latest.err b/tests/qemuxmlconfdata/riscv64-panic-no-model.riscv64-latest.err
index 8e3f2c194d..139249bbc5 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxmlconfdata/riscv64-panic-no-model.riscv64-latest.err
+++ b/tests/qemuxmlconfdata/riscv64-panic-no-model.riscv64-latest.err
@@ -1 +1 @@
-unsupported configuration: the QEMU binary does not support the ISA panic device
+unsupported configuration: no panic model provided, and no default for the architecture and machine type