diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c b/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c
index ab21e127097ea3b4aa9f41c54e8f35c985f7f80f..e1a28272ee7b959914835595c6aed79b17394f8d 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_cgroup.c
@@ -1025,10 +1025,6 @@ qemuSetupCgroupForVcpu(virDomainObjPtr vm)
         if (virCgroupAddTask(cgroup_vcpu, priv->vcpupids[i]) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
 
-        if (mem_mask &&
-            virCgroupSetCpusetMems(cgroup_vcpu, mem_mask) < 0)
-            goto cleanup;
-
         if (period || quota) {
             if (qemuSetupCgroupVcpuBW(cgroup_vcpu, period, quota) < 0)
                 goto cleanup;
@@ -1038,6 +1034,10 @@ qemuSetupCgroupForVcpu(virDomainObjPtr vm)
         if (virCgroupHasController(priv->cgroup, VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPUSET)) {
             virBitmapPtr cpumap = NULL;
 
+            if (mem_mask &&
+                virCgroupSetCpusetMems(cgroup_vcpu, mem_mask) < 0)
+                goto cleanup;
+
             /* try to use the default cpu maps */
             if (vm->def->placement_mode == VIR_DOMAIN_CPU_PLACEMENT_MODE_AUTO)
                 cpumap = priv->autoCpuset;
@@ -1202,15 +1202,15 @@ qemuSetupCgroupForIOThreads(virDomainObjPtr vm)
                 goto cleanup;
         }
 
-        if (mem_mask &&
-            virCgroupSetCpusetMems(cgroup_iothread, mem_mask) < 0)
-            goto cleanup;
-
         /* Set iothreadpin in cgroup if iothreadpin xml is provided */
         if (virCgroupHasController(priv->cgroup,
                                    VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPUSET)) {
             virBitmapPtr cpumask = NULL;
 
+            if (mem_mask &&
+                virCgroupSetCpusetMems(cgroup_iothread, mem_mask) < 0)
+                goto cleanup;
+
             if (def->iothreadids[i]->cpumask)
                 cpumask = def->iothreadids[i]->cpumask;
             else if (def->placement_mode == VIR_DOMAIN_CPU_PLACEMENT_MODE_AUTO)
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index b9278f87acd867028350607f0df2ab2301371263..7a984a86ab3a06e613396f4f59d56779e10a06e8 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -4597,7 +4597,9 @@ qemuDomainAddCgroupForThread(virCgroupPtr cgroup,
     if (virCgroupNewThread(cgroup, nameval, idx, true, &new_cgroup) < 0)
         return NULL;
 
-    if (mem_mask && virCgroupSetCpusetMems(new_cgroup, mem_mask) < 0)
+    if (mem_mask &&
+        virCgroupHasController(cgroup, VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPUSET) &&
+        virCgroupSetCpusetMems(new_cgroup, mem_mask) < 0)
         goto error;
 
     /* Add pid/thread to the cgroup */
@@ -4653,7 +4655,8 @@ qemuDomainHotplugPinThread(virBitmapPtr cpumask,
 {
     int ret = -1;
 
-    if (cgroup) {
+    if (cgroup &&
+        virCgroupHasController(cgroup, VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPUSET)) {
         if (qemuSetupCgroupCpusetCpus(cgroup, cpumask) < 0) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_INVALID,
                            _("failed to set cpuset.cpus in cgroup for id %d"),
@@ -4896,7 +4899,8 @@ qemuDomainSetVcpusFlags(virDomainPtr dom, unsigned int nvcpus,
     if (virDomainObjGetDefs(vm, flags, &def, &persistentDef) < 0)
         goto endjob;
 
-    if (def && !(flags & VIR_DOMAIN_VCPU_GUEST) && virNumaIsAvailable()) {
+    if (def && !(flags & VIR_DOMAIN_VCPU_GUEST) && virNumaIsAvailable() &&
+        virCgroupHasController(priv->cgroup, VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_CPUSET)) {
         if (virCgroupNewThread(priv->cgroup, VIR_CGROUP_THREAD_EMULATOR, 0,
                                false, &cgroup_temp) < 0)
             goto endjob;