diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
index cd6eb2d4a9..e266cdd36a 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
  */
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 #include "qapi/error.h"
+#include "qapi/visitor.h"
 #include "sysemu/sysemu.h"
 #include "sysemu/numa.h"
 #include "hw/hw.h"
@@ -2140,6 +2141,82 @@ static void spapr_init_cpus(sPAPRMachineState *spapr)
     g_free(type);
 }
 
+static void show_vsmt_possible(void)
+{
+    int i;
+    GString *g;
+    char *s;
+
+    assert(kvm_enabled());
+    if (kvmppc_smt_possible()) {
+        g = g_string_new("Available VSMT modes:");
+        for (i = 63; i >= 0; i--) {
+            if ((1UL << i) & kvmppc_smt_possible()) {
+                g_string_append_printf(g, " %lu", (1UL << i));
+            }
+        }
+        s = g_string_free(g, false);
+        error_printf("%s.\n", s);
+        g_free(s);
+    } else {
+        error_printf("This KVM seems to be too old to support VSMT.\n");
+    }
+}
+
+static void spapr_set_vsmt_mode(sPAPRMachineState *spapr)
+{
+    bool vsmt_user = !!spapr->vsmt;
+    int kvm_smt = kvmppc_smt_threads();
+    int ret;
+    sPAPRMachineClass *smc = SPAPR_MACHINE_GET_CLASS(spapr);
+    const char *machine_name = object_class_get_name(OBJECT_CLASS(smc));
+
+    if (!kvm_enabled() && (smp_threads > 1)) {
+        error_report("TCG cannot support more than 1 thread/core "
+                     "on a %s", machine_name);
+        exit(1);
+    }
+    if (!is_power_of_2(smp_threads)) {
+        error_report("Cannot support %d threads/core on a %s because "
+                     "it must be a power of 2", smp_threads, machine_name);
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
+    /* Detemine the VSMT mode to use: */
+    if (vsmt_user) {
+        if (spapr->vsmt < smp_threads) {
+            error_report("Cannot support VSMT mode %d"
+                         " because it must be >= threads/core (%d)",
+                         spapr->vsmt, smp_threads);
+            exit(1);
+        }
+        /* In this case, spapr->vsmt has been set by the command line */
+    } else {
+        /* Choose a VSMT mode that may be higher than necessary but is
+         * likely to be compatible with hosts that don't have VSMT. */
+        spapr->vsmt = MAX(kvm_smt, smp_threads);
+    }
+
+    /* KVM: If necessary, set the SMT mode: */
+    if (kvm_enabled() && (spapr->vsmt != kvm_smt)) {
+        ret = kvmppc_set_smt_threads(spapr->vsmt);
+        if (ret) {
+            error_report("Failed to set KVM's VSMT mode to %d (errno %d)",
+                         spapr->vsmt, ret);
+            if (!vsmt_user) {
+                error_printf("On PPC, a VM with %d threads/core on a host"
+                             " with %d threads/core requires the use of"
+                             " VSMT mode %d.\n",
+                             smp_threads, kvm_smt, spapr->vsmt);
+            }
+            show_vsmt_possible();
+            exit(1);
+        }
+    }
+    /* else TCG: nothing to do currently */
+    return;
+}
+
 /* pSeries LPAR / sPAPR hardware init */
 static void ppc_spapr_init(MachineState *machine)
 {
@@ -2272,6 +2349,8 @@ static void ppc_spapr_init(MachineState *machine)
 
     spapr_cpu_parse_features(spapr);
 
+    spapr_set_vsmt_mode(spapr);
+
     spapr_init_cpus(spapr);
 
     if (kvm_enabled()) {
@@ -2656,6 +2735,18 @@ static void spapr_set_resize_hpt(Object *obj, const char *value, Error **errp)
     }
 }
 
+static void spapr_get_vsmt(Object *obj, Visitor *v, const char *name,
+                                   void *opaque, Error **errp)
+{
+    visit_type_uint32(v, name, (uint32_t *)opaque, errp);
+}
+
+static void spapr_set_vsmt(Object *obj, Visitor *v, const char *name,
+                                   void *opaque, Error **errp)
+{
+    visit_type_uint32(v, name, (uint32_t *)opaque, errp);
+}
+
 static void spapr_machine_initfn(Object *obj)
 {
     sPAPRMachineState *spapr = SPAPR_MACHINE(obj);
@@ -2686,6 +2777,11 @@ static void spapr_machine_initfn(Object *obj)
     object_property_set_description(obj, "resize-hpt",
                                     "Resizing of the Hash Page Table (enabled, disabled, required)",
                                     NULL);
+    object_property_add(obj, "vsmt", "uint32", spapr_get_vsmt,
+                        spapr_set_vsmt, NULL, &spapr->vsmt, &error_abort);
+    object_property_set_description(obj, "vsmt",
+                                    "Virtual SMT: KVM behaves as if this were"
+                                    " the host's SMT mode", &error_abort);
 }
 
 static void spapr_machine_finalizefn(Object *obj)
diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
index 86c982cf2c..68c510339f 100644
--- a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
+++ b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ struct sPAPRMachineState {
     uint64_t rtc_offset; /* Now used only during incoming migration */
     struct PPCTimebase tb;
     bool has_graphics;
+    uint32_t vsmt;       /* Virtual SMT mode (KVM's "core stride") */
 
     Notifier epow_notifier;
     QTAILQ_HEAD(, sPAPREventLogEntry) pending_events;
diff --git a/target/ppc/kvm.c b/target/ppc/kvm.c
index 5fc7f238eb..0b9d5b83fa 100644
--- a/target/ppc/kvm.c
+++ b/target/ppc/kvm.c
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ static int cap_interrupt_level = false;
 static int cap_segstate;
 static int cap_booke_sregs;
 static int cap_ppc_smt;
+static int cap_ppc_smt_possible;
 static int cap_ppc_rma;
 static int cap_spapr_tce;
 static int cap_spapr_tce_64;
@@ -130,7 +131,7 @@ int kvm_arch_init(MachineState *ms, KVMState *s)
     cap_interrupt_level = kvm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_PPC_IRQ_LEVEL);
     cap_segstate = kvm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_PPC_SEGSTATE);
     cap_booke_sregs = kvm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_PPC_BOOKE_SREGS);
-    cap_ppc_smt = kvm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_PPC_SMT);
+    cap_ppc_smt_possible = kvm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_PPC_SMT_POSSIBLE);
     cap_ppc_rma = kvm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_PPC_RMA);
     cap_spapr_tce = kvm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_SPAPR_TCE);
     cap_spapr_tce_64 = kvm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_SPAPR_TCE_64);
@@ -144,6 +145,7 @@ int kvm_arch_init(MachineState *ms, KVMState *s)
      * only activated after this by kvmppc_set_papr() */
     cap_htab_fd = kvm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_PPC_HTAB_FD);
     cap_fixup_hcalls = kvm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_PPC_FIXUP_HCALL);
+    cap_ppc_smt = kvm_vm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_PPC_SMT);
     cap_htm = kvm_vm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_PPC_HTM);
     cap_mmu_radix = kvm_vm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_PPC_MMU_RADIX);
     cap_mmu_hash_v3 = kvm_vm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_PPC_MMU_HASH_V3);
@@ -2134,6 +2136,22 @@ int kvmppc_smt_threads(void)
     return cap_ppc_smt ? cap_ppc_smt : 1;
 }
 
+int kvmppc_set_smt_threads(int smt)
+{
+    int ret;
+
+    ret = kvm_vm_enable_cap(kvm_state, KVM_CAP_PPC_SMT, 0, smt, 0);
+    if (!ret) {
+        cap_ppc_smt = smt;
+    }
+    return ret;
+}
+
+int kvmppc_smt_possible(void)
+{
+    return cap_ppc_smt_possible;
+}
+
 #ifdef TARGET_PPC64
 off_t kvmppc_alloc_rma(void **rma)
 {
diff --git a/target/ppc/kvm_ppc.h b/target/ppc/kvm_ppc.h
index 381afe6240..7b2962eb86 100644
--- a/target/ppc/kvm_ppc.h
+++ b/target/ppc/kvm_ppc.h
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ void kvmppc_set_papr(PowerPCCPU *cpu);
 int kvmppc_set_compat(PowerPCCPU *cpu, uint32_t compat_pvr);
 void kvmppc_set_mpic_proxy(PowerPCCPU *cpu, int mpic_proxy);
 int kvmppc_smt_threads(void);
+int kvmppc_smt_possible(void);
+int kvmppc_set_smt_threads(int smt);
 int kvmppc_clear_tsr_bits(PowerPCCPU *cpu, uint32_t tsr_bits);
 int kvmppc_or_tsr_bits(PowerPCCPU *cpu, uint32_t tsr_bits);
 int kvmppc_set_tcr(PowerPCCPU *cpu);
@@ -148,6 +150,16 @@ static inline int kvmppc_smt_threads(void)
     return 1;
 }
 
+static inline int kvmppc_smt_possible(void)
+{
+    return 1;
+}
+
+static inline int kvmppc_set_smt_threads(int smt)
+{
+    return 0;
+}
+
 static inline int kvmppc_or_tsr_bits(PowerPCCPU *cpu, uint32_t tsr_bits)
 {
     return 0;
diff --git a/target/ppc/translate_init.c b/target/ppc/translate_init.c
index 0ce923be46..7f6a349e43 100644
--- a/target/ppc/translate_init.c
+++ b/target/ppc/translate_init.c
@@ -9907,20 +9907,6 @@ static void ppc_cpu_realizefn(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
     int max_smt = kvmppc_smt_threads();
 #endif
 
-#if !defined(CONFIG_USER_ONLY)
-    if (smp_threads > max_smt) {
-        error_setg(errp, "Cannot support more than %d threads on PPC with %s",
-                   max_smt, kvm_enabled() ? "KVM" : "TCG");
-        return;
-    }
-    if (!is_power_of_2(smp_threads)) {
-        error_setg(errp, "Cannot support %d threads on PPC with %s, "
-                   "threads count must be a power of 2.",
-                   smp_threads, kvm_enabled() ? "KVM" : "TCG");
-        return;
-    }
-#endif
-
     cpu_exec_realizefn(cs, &local_err);
     if (local_err != NULL) {
         error_propagate(errp, local_err);
