diff --git a/target/s390x/kvm.c b/target/s390x/kvm.c
index 720cb1d833..ebb75cafaa 100644
--- a/target/s390x/kvm.c
+++ b/target/s390x/kvm.c
@@ -311,8 +311,13 @@ int kvm_arch_init(MachineState *ms, KVMState *s)
         }
     }
 
-    /* Try to enable AIS facility */
-    kvm_vm_enable_cap(s, KVM_CAP_S390_AIS, 0);
+    /*
+     * The migration interface for ais was introduced with kernel 4.13
+     * but the capability itself had been active since 4.12. As migration
+     * support is considered necessary let's disable ais in the 2.10
+     * machine.
+     */
+    /* kvm_vm_enable_cap(s, KVM_CAP_S390_AIS, 0); */
 
     qemu_mutex_init(&qemu_sigp_mutex);