diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index 08c66b0880f6f85763fe231d1541d74bfe81a3ca..70f9ed777aa707d9299501df8bee789304075156 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -1074,6 +1074,26 @@ virQEMUCapsProbeHostCPU(virCapsPtr caps)
 }
 
 
+virCPUDefPtr
+virQEMUCapsProbeHostCPUForEmulator(virCapsPtr caps,
+                                   virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
+                                   virDomainVirtType type)
+{
+    size_t nmodels;
+    char **models;
+    virCPUDefPtr cpu;
+
+    if (virQEMUCapsGetCPUDefinitions(qemuCaps, type, &models, &nmodels) < 0)
+        return NULL;
+
+    cpu = virCPUGetHost(caps->host.arch, VIR_CPU_TYPE_GUEST, NULL,
+                        (const char **) models, nmodels);
+
+    virStringListFreeCount(models, nmodels);
+    return cpu;
+}
+
+
 static int
 virQEMUCapsInitPages(virCapsPtr caps)
 {
@@ -3207,6 +3227,7 @@ virQEMUCapsInitHostCPUModel(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
                             virDomainVirtType type)
 {
     virCPUDefPtr cpu = NULL;
+    virCPUDefPtr hostCPU = NULL;
     int rc;
 
     if (!caps || !virQEMUCapsGuestIsNative(caps->host.arch, qemuCaps->arch))
@@ -3223,11 +3244,11 @@ virQEMUCapsInitHostCPUModel(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
     if ((rc = virQEMUCapsInitCPUModel(qemuCaps, type, cpu)) < 0) {
         goto error;
     } else if (rc == 1) {
-        VIR_DEBUG("No host CPU model info from QEMU; using host capabilities");
-        if (!caps->host.cpu || !caps->host.cpu->model)
-            goto error;
+        VIR_DEBUG("No host CPU model info from QEMU; probing host CPU directly");
 
-        if (virCPUDefCopyModelFilter(cpu, caps->host.cpu, true,
+        hostCPU = virQEMUCapsProbeHostCPUForEmulator(caps, qemuCaps, type);
+        if (!hostCPU ||
+            virCPUDefCopyModelFilter(cpu, hostCPU, true,
                                      virQEMUCapsCPUFilterFeatures,
                                      qemuCaps) < 0)
             goto error;
@@ -3238,11 +3259,14 @@ virQEMUCapsInitHostCPUModel(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
     else
         qemuCaps->tcgCPUModel = cpu;
 
+ cleanup:
+    virCPUDefFree(hostCPU);
     return;
 
  error:
     virCPUDefFree(cpu);
     virResetLastError();
+    goto cleanup;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capspriv.h b/src/qemu/qemu_capspriv.h
index e0544f273b2ef37e296f227bfb1f35b81fa9e931..ee29b8bba71e5539f4783288b7f0523b92b7bf01 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capspriv.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capspriv.h
@@ -87,4 +87,9 @@ void
 virQEMUCapsSetCPUModelInfo(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
                            virDomainVirtType type,
                            qemuMonitorCPUModelInfoPtr modelInfo);
+
+virCPUDefPtr
+virQEMUCapsProbeHostCPUForEmulator(virCapsPtr caps,
+                                   virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
+                                   virDomainVirtType type);
 #endif
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am
index 35e82abf5f53fa55f7fa4a993b849e8ee1991014..af69a3a843a531b5567aa057631bd05dd73698e8 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am
@@ -284,6 +284,7 @@ test_libraries += libqemumonitortestutils.la \
 		qemuxml2xmlmock.la \
 		qemucaps2xmlmock.la \
 		qemucapsprobemock.la \
+		qemucpumock.la \
 		$(NULL)
 endif WITH_QEMU
 
@@ -549,10 +550,16 @@ libqemutestdriver_la_SOURCES =
 libqemutestdriver_la_LDFLAGS = $(QEMULIB_LDFLAGS)
 libqemutestdriver_la_LIBADD = $(qemu_LDADDS)
 
+qemucpumock_la_SOURCES = \
+	qemucpumock.c
+qemucpumock_la_CFLAGS = $(AM_CFLAGS)
+qemucpumock_la_LDFLAGS = $(MOCKLIBS_LDFLAGS)
+qemucpumock_la_LIBADD = $(MOCKLIBS_LIBS)
+
 qemuxml2argvtest_SOURCES = \
 	qemuxml2argvtest.c testutilsqemu.c testutilsqemu.h \
 	testutils.c testutils.h
-qemuxml2argvtest_LDADD = $(qemu_LDADDS) $(LDADDS) $(LIBXML_LIBS)
+qemuxml2argvtest_LDADD = libqemutestdriver.la $(LDADDS) $(LIBXML_LIBS)
 
 qemuxml2argvmock_la_SOURCES = \
 	qemuxml2argvmock.c
@@ -949,7 +956,7 @@ domaincapstest_LDADD = $(LDADDS)
 
 if WITH_QEMU
 domaincapstest_SOURCES += testutilsqemu.c testutilsqemu.h
-domaincapstest_LDADD += $(qemu_LDADDS) $(GNULIB_LIBS)
+domaincapstest_LDADD += libqemutestdriver.la $(GNULIB_LIBS)
 endif WITH_QEMU
 
 if WITH_LIBXL
diff --git a/tests/domaincapstest.c b/tests/domaincapstest.c
index 9b64f2c18a46ffa51d0b8f098620d5d8c0f7bdf9..a4bc8d6d0d719df7fdb9fecbde43d73d116ac789 100644
--- a/tests/domaincapstest.c
+++ b/tests/domaincapstest.c
@@ -491,4 +491,10 @@ mymain(void)
     return ret;
 }
 
+#if WITH_QEMU
+VIRT_TEST_MAIN_PRELOAD(mymain,
+                       abs_builddir "/.libs/domaincapsmock.so",
+                       abs_builddir "/.libs/qemucpumock.so")
+#else
 VIRT_TEST_MAIN_PRELOAD(mymain, abs_builddir "/.libs/domaincapsmock.so")
+#endif
diff --git a/tests/qemucpumock.c b/tests/qemucpumock.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2c1d24dd4781ac3ede0c46e623702f12ba5b2c05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemucpumock.c
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/*
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library.  If not, see
+ * <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#include <config.h>
+
+#include "internal.h"
+#include "qemu/qemu_capabilities.h"
+#define __QEMU_CAPSRIV_H_ALLOW__
+#include "qemu/qemu_capspriv.h"
+#undef __QEMU_CAPSRIV_H_ALLOW__
+
+
+virCPUDefPtr
+virQEMUCapsProbeHostCPUForEmulator(virCapsPtr caps,
+                                   virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
+                                   virDomainVirtType type ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
+{
+    if (!caps || !caps->host.cpu || !caps->host.cpu->model)
+        return NULL;
+
+    return virCPUDefCopy(caps->host.cpu);
+}
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index 00b0e25cdab1c5f6758197b2338a72e098145fe7..6bd74659926673d824b17b241b75e164e58df71b 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -2473,8 +2473,10 @@ mymain(void)
     return ret == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE;
 }
 
-VIRT_TEST_MAIN_PRELOAD(mymain, abs_builddir "/.libs/qemuxml2argvmock.so",
-                       abs_builddir "/.libs/virrandommock.so")
+VIRT_TEST_MAIN_PRELOAD(mymain,
+                       abs_builddir "/.libs/qemuxml2argvmock.so",
+                       abs_builddir "/.libs/virrandommock.so",
+                       abs_builddir "/.libs/qemucpumock.so")
 
 #else