diff --git a/target/arm/cpu64.c b/target/arm/cpu64.c
index 15665c962b..a46e40f4f2 100644
--- a/target/arm/cpu64.c
+++ b/target/arm/cpu64.c
@@ -487,8 +487,13 @@ void arm_cpu_sve_finalize(ARMCPU *cpu, Error **errp)
                                   "using only sve<N> properties.\n");
             } else {
                 error_setg(errp, "cannot enable sve%d", vq * 128);
-                error_append_hint(errp, "This CPU does not support "
-                                  "the vector length %d-bits.\n", vq * 128);
+                if (vq_supported) {
+                    error_append_hint(errp, "This CPU does not support "
+                                      "the vector length %d-bits.\n", vq * 128);
+                } else {
+                    error_append_hint(errp, "SVE not supported by KVM "
+                                      "on this host\n");
+                }
             }
             return;
         } else {
@@ -606,12 +611,6 @@ static void cpu_arm_set_sve_vq(Object *obj, Visitor *v, const char *name,
         return;
     }
 
-    if (value && kvm_enabled() && !kvm_arm_sve_supported()) {
-        error_setg(errp, "cannot enable %s", name);
-        error_append_hint(errp, "SVE not supported by KVM on this host\n");
-        return;
-    }
-
     cpu->sve_vq_map = deposit32(cpu->sve_vq_map, vq - 1, 1, value);
     cpu->sve_vq_init |= 1 << (vq - 1);
 }