diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 49503fb2c639d16b8b52d56dd948858314ffd0ff..c78f1b83bd07178d24ed886b31d4e092fd091c2c 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -9240,6 +9240,7 @@ qemuChrSerialTargetModelToCaps(virDomainChrSerialTargetModel targetModel)
     case VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_SERIAL_TARGET_MODEL_SCLPLMCONSOLE:
         return QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_SCLPLMCONSOLE;
     case VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_SERIAL_TARGET_MODEL_PL011:
+        return QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PL011;
     case VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_SERIAL_TARGET_MODEL_NONE:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_SERIAL_TARGET_MODEL_LAST:
         break;
@@ -9332,6 +9333,17 @@ qemuBuildSerialCommandLine(virLogManagerPtr logManager,
             if (qemuBuildChrDeviceCommandLine(cmd, def, serial, qemuCaps) < 0)
                 return -1;
         } else {
+            virQEMUCapsFlags caps;
+
+            caps = qemuChrSerialTargetModelToCaps(serial->targetModel);
+
+            if (caps && !virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, caps)) {
+                virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
+                               _("'%s' is not supported in this QEMU binary"),
+                               virDomainChrSerialTargetModelTypeToString(serial->targetModel));
+                return -1;
+            }
+
             virCommandAddArg(cmd, "-serial");
             virCommandAddArgFormat(cmd, "chardev:char%s", serial->info.alias);
         }
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index a8a70959270a1bc864bce72e1a7647579733a00c..d3ac569e270f18c8a6f67d6d3987efc44ad9e9b8 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -1924,10 +1924,13 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST_PARSE_ERROR("pseries-serial-invalid-machine", NONE);
 
     DO_TEST("mach-virt-serial-native",
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PL011,
             QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG);
     DO_TEST("mach-virt-serial+console-native",
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PL011,
             QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG);
     DO_TEST("mach-virt-serial-compat",
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PL011,
             QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG);
     DO_TEST("mach-virt-serial-pci",
             QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG,
@@ -1945,6 +1948,7 @@ mymain(void)
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_QEMU_XHCI,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_USB_SERIAL);
     DO_TEST("mach-virt-console-native",
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PL011,
             QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG);
     DO_TEST("mach-virt-console-virtio",
             QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG);
@@ -2500,11 +2504,13 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST("arm-virt-virtio",
             QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG, QEMU_CAPS_DTB,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_VIRTIO_MMIO,
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PL011,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_VIRTIO_RNG, QEMU_CAPS_OBJECT_RNG_RANDOM);
 
     DO_TEST("aarch64-virt-virtio",
             QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG, QEMU_CAPS_DTB,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_VIRTIO_MMIO,
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PL011,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_VIRTIO_RNG, QEMU_CAPS_OBJECT_RNG_RANDOM);
 
     /* Demonstrates the virtio-pci default... namely that there isn't any!
@@ -2520,6 +2526,7 @@ mymain(void)
             QEMU_CAPS_PCI_MULTIFUNCTION,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_DMI_TO_PCI_BRIDGE,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IOH3420,
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PL011,
             QEMU_CAPS_VIRTIO_SCSI);
     DO_TEST("aarch64-virt-2.6-virtio-pci-default",
             QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG, QEMU_CAPS_DTB,
@@ -2528,6 +2535,7 @@ mymain(void)
             QEMU_CAPS_OBJECT_GPEX, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PCI_BRIDGE,
             QEMU_CAPS_PCI_MULTIFUNCTION,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_DMI_TO_PCI_BRIDGE,
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PL011,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_IOH3420);
     /* Example of using virtio-pci with no explicit PCI controller
        but with manual PCI addresses */
@@ -2646,6 +2654,7 @@ mymain(void)
             QEMU_CAPS_MACH_VIRT_GIC_VERSION);
     DO_TEST("aarch64-kvm-32-on-64",
             QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_VIRTIO_MMIO,
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_PL011,
             QEMU_CAPS_KVM, QEMU_CAPS_CPU_AARCH64_OFF);
     DO_TEST_FAILURE("aarch64-kvm-32-on-64",
             QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_VIRTIO_MMIO,