diff --git a/src/qemu_conf.c b/src/qemu_conf.c
index 6b0b4048fe52098efb81de4f04f01c8284aff8e4..1b160c9c5aa06eff18cb8dfb383c0b326b57da45 100644
--- a/src/qemu_conf.c
+++ b/src/qemu_conf.c
@@ -771,6 +771,9 @@ static unsigned int qemudComputeCmdFlags(const char *help,
         flags |= QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_VGA;
     if (strstr(help, "boot=on"))
         flags |= QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DRIVE_BOOT;
+    if (strstr(help, "-pcidevice"))
+        flags |= QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_PCIDEVICE;
+
     if (version >= 9000)
         flags |= QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_VNC_COLON;
 
@@ -2070,6 +2073,11 @@ int qemudBuildCommandLine(virConnectPtr conn,
         /* PCI */
         if (hostdev->mode == VIR_DOMAIN_HOSTDEV_MODE_SUBSYS &&
             hostdev->source.subsys.type == VIR_DOMAIN_HOSTDEV_SUBSYS_TYPE_PCI) {
+            if (!(qemuCmdFlags & QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_PCIDEVICE)) {
+                qemudReportError(conn, NULL, NULL, VIR_ERR_NO_SUPPORT, "%s",
+                                 _("PCI device assignment is not supported by this version of qemu"));
+                goto error;
+            }
             ret = virAsprintf(&pcidev, "host=%.2x:%.2x.%.1x",
                            hostdev->source.subsys.u.pci.bus,
                            hostdev->source.subsys.u.pci.slot,
diff --git a/src/qemu_conf.h b/src/qemu_conf.h
index 517626ab4078d75a8533e78560f494be5f660675..aea9843e74fa792882dd91efaa250d72ace74be2 100644
--- a/src/qemu_conf.h
+++ b/src/qemu_conf.h
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ enum qemud_cmd_flags {
     QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_0_10         = (1 << 16),
     QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_NET_NAME     = QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_0_10, /* -net ...,name=str */
     QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_HOST_NET_ADD = QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_0_10, /* host_net_add monitor command */
+
+    QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_PCIDEVICE     = (1 << 17), /* PCI device assignment only supported by qemu-kvm */
 };
 
 /* Main driver state */
diff --git a/tests/qemuargv2xmltest.c b/tests/qemuargv2xmltest.c
index f2537b7c11fc13e88bb3a328478ee424c427474c..7861520e68a8d466599d4a36a66fe74220904d81 100644
--- a/tests/qemuargv2xmltest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuargv2xmltest.c
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ mymain(int argc, char **argv)
     DO_TEST("hostdev-usb-product", 0);
     DO_TEST("hostdev-usb-address", 0);
 
-    DO_TEST("hostdev-pci-address", 0);
+    DO_TEST("hostdev-pci-address", QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_PCIDEVICE);
 
     DO_TEST_FULL("restore-v1", QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_MIGRATE_KVM_STDIO, "stdio");
     DO_TEST_FULL("restore-v2", QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_MIGRATE_QEMU_EXEC, "stdio");
diff --git a/tests/qemuhelptest.c b/tests/qemuhelptest.c
index 1948bd1ed6480667b93eb195d6d802ee30480e83..ad2045fa5ef3841ce852c0e655e52632d6e147b5 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhelptest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuhelptest.c
@@ -135,7 +135,8 @@ mymain(int argc, char **argv)
             QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_KVM |
             QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DRIVE_FORMAT |
             QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_VGA |
-            QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_0_10,
+            QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_0_10 |
+            QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_PCIDEVICE,
             10005, 1,  0);
     DO_TEST("kvm-86",
             QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_VNC_COLON |
@@ -151,7 +152,8 @@ mymain(int argc, char **argv)
             QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_KVM |
             QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DRIVE_FORMAT |
             QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_VGA |
-            QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_0_10,
+            QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_0_10 |
+            QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_PCIDEVICE,
             10050, 1,  0);
 
     return ret == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE;
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index 73a6709eed4300b4ac595d10cc9e73c177aef80f..6f25e7d77fb65bd3c88c6b2849909cf1bce3d453 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ mymain(int argc, char **argv)
     DO_TEST("hostdev-usb-product", 0);
     DO_TEST("hostdev-usb-address", 0);
 
-    DO_TEST("hostdev-pci-address", 0);
+    DO_TEST("hostdev-pci-address", QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_PCIDEVICE);
 
     DO_TEST_FULL("restore-v1", QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_MIGRATE_KVM_STDIO, "stdio");
     DO_TEST_FULL("restore-v2", QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_MIGRATE_QEMU_EXEC, "stdio");