diff --git a/tests/migration-test.c b/tests/migration-test.c
index eb58d0a48e..0e687b7512 100644
--- a/tests/migration-test.c
+++ b/tests/migration-test.c
@@ -438,15 +438,6 @@ static int test_migrate_start(QTestState **from, QTestState **to,
                                   " -incoming %s",
                                   accel, tmpfs, bootpath, uri);
     } else if (strcmp(arch, "ppc64") == 0) {
-
-        /* On ppc64, the test only works with kvm-hv, but not with kvm-pr
-         * and TCG is touchy due to race conditions on dirty bits
-         * (especially on PPC for some reason)
-         */
-        if (access("/sys/module/kvm_hv", F_OK)) {
-            g_print("Skipping test: kvm_hv not available ");
-            return -1;
-        }
         cmd_src = g_strdup_printf("-machine accel=%s -m 256M"
                                   " -name source,debug-threads=on"
                                   " -serial file:%s/src_serial"
@@ -750,6 +741,17 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         return 0;
     }
 
+    /*
+     * On ppc64, the test only works with kvm-hv, but not with kvm-pr and TCG
+     * is touchy due to race conditions on dirty bits (especially on PPC for
+     * some reason)
+     */
+    if (g_str_equal(qtest_get_arch(), "ppc64") &&
+        access("/sys/module/kvm_hv", F_OK)) {
+        g_test_message("Skipping test: kvm_hv not available");
+        return 0;
+    }
+
     tmpfs = mkdtemp(template);
     if (!tmpfs) {
         g_test_message("mkdtemp on path (%s): %s\n", template, strerror(errno));