diff --git a/src/cpu/x86/vm/vm_version_x86.cpp b/src/cpu/x86/vm/vm_version_x86.cpp
index 182b0ab1a5f3a42c19e82e341710ca12e83266de..21bb57335ff77bce92413b966ee1826fd6360911 100644
--- a/src/cpu/x86/vm/vm_version_x86.cpp
+++ b/src/cpu/x86/vm/vm_version_x86.cpp
@@ -488,8 +488,8 @@ void VM_Version::get_processor_features() {
   }
 
   // The AES intrinsic stubs require AES instruction support (of course)
-  // but also require AVX mode for misaligned SSE access
-  if (UseAES && (UseAVX > 0)) {
+  // but also require AVX and sse3 modes for instructions it use.
+  if (UseAES && (UseAVX > 0) && (UseSSE > 2)) {
     if (FLAG_IS_DEFAULT(UseAESIntrinsics)) {
       UseAESIntrinsics = true;
     }