diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index ef30f7f7365b07346d115e91ab262535854b02a7..a9eda05113edce43a59c96440ad19628cfcf6b46 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -1072,6 +1072,7 @@ virLogManagerNew;
 nodeCapsInitNUMA;
 nodeGetInfo;
 virHostCPUGetCount;
+virHostCPUGetKVMMaxVCPUs;
 virHostCPUGetMap;
 virHostCPUGetOnlineBitmap;
 virHostCPUGetPresentBitmap;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index dd3d624990af12bf87416a52241adc46ebe7af85..4e6e4c952cc59035d7970ed5cd991d1ca31702d1 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -124,24 +124,6 @@ VIR_LOG_INIT("qemu.qemu_driver");
 
 #define QEMU_GUEST_VCPU_MAX_ID 4096
 
-#if HAVE_LINUX_KVM_H
-# include <linux/kvm.h>
-#endif
-
-/* device for kvm ioctls */
-#define KVM_DEVICE "/dev/kvm"
-
-/* add definitions missing in older linux/kvm.h */
-#ifndef KVMIO
-# define KVMIO 0xAE
-#endif
-#ifndef KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION
-# define KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION       _IO(KVMIO,   0x03)
-#endif
-#ifndef KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS
-# define KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS 9       /* returns max vcpus per vm */
-#endif
-
 #define QEMU_NB_BLKIO_PARAM  6
 
 #define QEMU_NB_BANDWIDTH_PARAM 7
@@ -1261,38 +1243,6 @@ static int qemuConnectIsAlive(virConnectPtr conn ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
 }
 
 
-static int
-kvmGetMaxVCPUs(void)
-{
-    int fd;
-    int ret;
-
-    if ((fd = open(KVM_DEVICE, O_RDONLY)) < 0) {
-        virReportSystemError(errno, _("Unable to open %s"), KVM_DEVICE);
-        return -1;
-    }
-
-#ifdef KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS
-    /* at first try KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS to determine the maximum count */
-    if ((ret = ioctl(fd, KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION, KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS)) > 0)
-        goto cleanup;
-#endif /* KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS */
-
-    /* as a fallback get KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS (the recommended maximum number of
-     * vcpus). Note that on most machines this is set to 160. */
-    if ((ret = ioctl(fd, KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION, KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS)) > 0)
-        goto cleanup;
-
-    /* if KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS doesn't exist either, kernel documentation states
-     * that 4 should be used as the maximum number of cpus */
-    ret = 4;
-
- cleanup:
-    VIR_FORCE_CLOSE(fd);
-    return ret;
-}
-
-
 static char *
 qemuConnectGetSysinfo(virConnectPtr conn, unsigned int flags)
 {
@@ -1330,7 +1280,7 @@ qemuConnectGetMaxVcpus(virConnectPtr conn ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED, const char *type)
         return 16;
 
     if (STRCASEEQ(type, "kvm"))
-        return kvmGetMaxVCPUs();
+        return virHostCPUGetKVMMaxVCPUs();
 
     if (STRCASEEQ(type, "kqemu"))
         return 1;
diff --git a/src/util/virhostcpu.c b/src/util/virhostcpu.c
index f38fbec5f389d1bdb1d6beb656ee4589b02bc703..fed5be76b25a7af526d1b479e4cc49a0ecf6f35c 100644
--- a/src/util/virhostcpu.c
+++ b/src/util/virhostcpu.c
@@ -63,6 +63,19 @@
 
 VIR_LOG_INIT("util.hostcpu");
 
+#define KVM_DEVICE "/dev/kvm"
+
+/* add definitions missing in older linux/kvm.h */
+#ifndef KVMIO
+# define KVMIO 0xAE
+#endif
+#ifndef KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION
+# define KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION       _IO(KVMIO,   0x03)
+#endif
+#ifndef KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS
+# define KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS 9       /* returns max vcpus per vm */
+#endif
+
 
 #if defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__APPLE__)
 static int
@@ -1286,3 +1299,34 @@ virHostCPUGetThreadsPerSubcore(virArch arch ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
 }
 
 #endif /* HAVE_LINUX_KVM_H && defined(KVM_CAP_PPC_SMT) */
+
+int
+virHostCPUGetKVMMaxVCPUs(void)
+{
+    int fd;
+    int ret;
+
+    if ((fd = open(KVM_DEVICE, O_RDONLY)) < 0) {
+        virReportSystemError(errno, _("Unable to open %s"), KVM_DEVICE);
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+#ifdef KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS
+    /* at first try KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS to determine the maximum count */
+    if ((ret = ioctl(fd, KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION, KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS)) > 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+#endif /* KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS */
+
+    /* as a fallback get KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS (the recommended maximum number of
+     * vcpus). Note that on most machines this is set to 160. */
+    if ((ret = ioctl(fd, KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION, KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS)) > 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+
+    /* if KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS doesn't exist either, kernel documentation states
+     * that 4 should be used as the maximum number of cpus */
+    ret = 4;
+
+ cleanup:
+    VIR_FORCE_CLOSE(fd);
+    return ret;
+}
diff --git a/src/util/virhostcpu.h b/src/util/virhostcpu.h
index e5ffc70089f90a8b754610fcb21fe432ce683a09..bc9cf98b53ea47dd2dbcea49d0cf7bce3387631a 100644
--- a/src/util/virhostcpu.h
+++ b/src/util/virhostcpu.h
@@ -51,4 +51,6 @@ int virHostCPUGetInfo(virArch hostarch,
                       unsigned int *cores,
                       unsigned int *threads);
 
+int virHostCPUGetKVMMaxVCPUs(void);
+
 #endif /* __VIR_HOSTCPU_H__*/