diff --git a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
index ae7bbebd0f08a5857d65fe6cb7c64892fab440eb..a91cc3dada6d504ac5781233a10b3f3609150b8d 100644
--- a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
+++ b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
@@ -434,6 +434,11 @@ static void pc_xen_hvm_init(MachineState *machine)
 {
     PCIBus *bus;
 
+    if (!xen_enabled()) {
+        error_report("xenfv machine requires the xen accelerator");
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
     pc_xen_hvm_init_pci(machine);
 
     bus = pci_find_primary_bus();