diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index cd3222feac..1f88658085 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -3428,12 +3428,14 @@ qemuBuildMemoryBackendProps(virJSONValue **backendProps,
             return -1;
     }
 
+    /* Make sure the requested nodeset is sensible */
+    if (nodemask && !virNumaNodesetIsAvailable(nodemask))
+        return -1;
+
     /* If mode is "restrictive", we should only use cgroups setting allowed memory
      * nodes, and skip passing the host-nodes and policy parameters to QEMU command
      * line which means we will use system default memory policy. */
     if (nodemask && mode != VIR_DOMAIN_NUMATUNE_MEM_RESTRICTIVE) {
-        if (!virNumaNodesetIsAvailable(nodemask))
-            return -1;
         if (virJSONValueObjectAdd(&props,
                                   "m:host-nodes", nodemask,
                                   "S:policy", qemuNumaPolicyTypeToString(mode),
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/numatune-memnode-unavailable-restrictive.x86_64-latest.args b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/numatune-memnode-unavailable-restrictive.x86_64-latest.args
deleted file mode 100644
index b257ef1c68..0000000000
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/numatune-memnode-unavailable-restrictive.x86_64-latest.args
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-LC_ALL=C \
-PATH=/bin \
-HOME=/tmp/lib/domain--1-QEMUGuest \
-USER=test \
-LOGNAME=test \
-XDG_DATA_HOME=/tmp/lib/domain--1-QEMUGuest/.local/share \
-XDG_CACHE_HOME=/tmp/lib/domain--1-QEMUGuest/.cache \
-XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/tmp/lib/domain--1-QEMUGuest/.config \
-/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 \
--name guest=QEMUGuest,debug-threads=on \
--S \
--object '{"qom-type":"secret","id":"masterKey0","format":"raw","file":"/tmp/lib/domain--1-QEMUGuest/master-key.aes"}' \
--machine pc,usb=off,dump-guest-core=off,memory-backend=pc.ram \
--accel tcg \
--cpu qemu64 \
--m 24104 \
--object '{"qom-type":"memory-backend-ram","id":"pc.ram","size":25274875904}' \
--overcommit mem-lock=off \
--smp 32,sockets=32,cores=1,threads=1 \
--uuid 9f4b6512-e73a-4a25-93e8-5307802821ce \
--display none \
--no-user-config \
--nodefaults \
--chardev socket,id=charmonitor,fd=1729,server=on,wait=off \
--mon chardev=charmonitor,id=monitor,mode=control \
--rtc base=utc \
--no-shutdown \
--no-acpi \
--boot strict=on \
--audiodev '{"id":"audio1","driver":"none"}' \
--sandbox on,obsolete=deny,elevateprivileges=deny,spawn=deny,resourcecontrol=deny \
--msg timestamp=on
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/numatune-memnode-unavailable-restrictive.x86_64-latest.err b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/numatune-memnode-unavailable-restrictive.x86_64-latest.err
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a826c3cdeb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/numatune-memnode-unavailable-restrictive.x86_64-latest.err
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+internal error: Mock: no numa node set is available at bit 999
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index 8130e12314..44ad0f7049 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -1982,7 +1982,7 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST_PARSE_ERROR_NOCAPS("numatune-memnode-nocpu");
     DO_TEST_PARSE_ERROR_NOCAPS("numatune-memnodes-problematic");
     DO_TEST_CAPS_LATEST_FAILURE("numatune-memnode-unavailable-strict");
-    DO_TEST_CAPS_LATEST("numatune-memnode-unavailable-restrictive");
+    DO_TEST_CAPS_LATEST_FAILURE("numatune-memnode-unavailable-restrictive");
     DO_TEST_NOCAPS("numad");
     DO_TEST_NOCAPS("numad-auto-vcpu-static-numatune");
     DO_TEST_PARSE_ERROR_NOCAPS("numad-auto-vcpu-static-numatune-no-nodeset");