diff --git a/hw/arm/virt.c b/hw/arm/virt.c
index 999f448af2747214a3ab85d16a0b73bb309994e6..fe96557997eecb0874d69f543ec25d032ca087d6 100644
--- a/hw/arm/virt.c
+++ b/hw/arm/virt.c
@@ -496,13 +496,10 @@ static void fdt_add_pmu_nodes(const VirtMachineState *vms)
             return;
         }
         if (kvm_enabled()) {
-            if (kvm_irqchip_in_kernel() &&
-                !kvm_arm_pmu_set_irq(cpu, PPI(VIRTUAL_PMU_IRQ))) {
-                return;
-            }
-            if (!kvm_arm_pmu_init(cpu)) {
-                return;
+            if (kvm_irqchip_in_kernel()) {
+                kvm_arm_pmu_set_irq(cpu, PPI(VIRTUAL_PMU_IRQ));
             }
+            kvm_arm_pmu_init(cpu);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/target/arm/kvm32.c b/target/arm/kvm32.c
index e3aab89a1a94f99d3f0b38d77a13a8881ff46991..f925a21481d6fbf932df57b98df4af091bd93d7a 100644
--- a/target/arm/kvm32.c
+++ b/target/arm/kvm32.c
@@ -522,14 +522,12 @@ bool kvm_arm_hw_debug_active(CPUState *cs)
     return false;
 }
 
-int kvm_arm_pmu_set_irq(CPUState *cs, int irq)
+void kvm_arm_pmu_set_irq(CPUState *cs, int irq)
 {
     qemu_log_mask(LOG_UNIMP, "%s: not implemented\n", __func__);
-    return 0;
 }
 
-int kvm_arm_pmu_init(CPUState *cs)
+void kvm_arm_pmu_init(CPUState *cs)
 {
     qemu_log_mask(LOG_UNIMP, "%s: not implemented\n", __func__);
-    return 0;
 }
diff --git a/target/arm/kvm64.c b/target/arm/kvm64.c
index ec7d85314accaff2aaf18d3dcb40ef0164be28a6..6554c30007a4e4fd611f0dbd46ca2385a4e02f91 100644
--- a/target/arm/kvm64.c
+++ b/target/arm/kvm64.c
@@ -387,30 +387,36 @@ static bool kvm_arm_pmu_set_attr(CPUState *cs, struct kvm_device_attr *attr)
 
     err = kvm_vcpu_ioctl(cs, KVM_HAS_DEVICE_ATTR, attr);
     if (err != 0) {
+        error_report("PMU: KVM_HAS_DEVICE_ATTR: %s", strerror(-err));
         return false;
     }
 
     err = kvm_vcpu_ioctl(cs, KVM_SET_DEVICE_ATTR, attr);
-    if (err < 0) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "KVM_SET_DEVICE_ATTR failed: %s\n",
-                strerror(-err));
-        abort();
+    if (err != 0) {
+        error_report("PMU: KVM_SET_DEVICE_ATTR: %s", strerror(-err));
+        return false;
     }
 
     return true;
 }
 
-int kvm_arm_pmu_init(CPUState *cs)
+void kvm_arm_pmu_init(CPUState *cs)
 {
     struct kvm_device_attr attr = {
         .group = KVM_ARM_VCPU_PMU_V3_CTRL,
         .attr = KVM_ARM_VCPU_PMU_V3_INIT,
     };
 
-    return kvm_arm_pmu_set_attr(cs, &attr);
+    if (!ARM_CPU(cs)->has_pmu) {
+        return;
+    }
+    if (!kvm_arm_pmu_set_attr(cs, &attr)) {
+        error_report("failed to init PMU");
+        abort();
+    }
 }
 
-int kvm_arm_pmu_set_irq(CPUState *cs, int irq)
+void kvm_arm_pmu_set_irq(CPUState *cs, int irq)
 {
     struct kvm_device_attr attr = {
         .group = KVM_ARM_VCPU_PMU_V3_CTRL,
@@ -418,7 +424,13 @@ int kvm_arm_pmu_set_irq(CPUState *cs, int irq)
         .attr = KVM_ARM_VCPU_PMU_V3_IRQ,
     };
 
-    return kvm_arm_pmu_set_attr(cs, &attr);
+    if (!ARM_CPU(cs)->has_pmu) {
+        return;
+    }
+    if (!kvm_arm_pmu_set_attr(cs, &attr)) {
+        error_report("failed to set irq for PMU");
+        abort();
+    }
 }
 
 static inline void set_feature(uint64_t *features, int feature)
diff --git a/target/arm/kvm_arm.h b/target/arm/kvm_arm.h
index cab5ea9be55cb4f93eacbe457eed9c8aa09de099..ff53e9fafb7ab1939e090e1672ab2c822014530f 100644
--- a/target/arm/kvm_arm.h
+++ b/target/arm/kvm_arm.h
@@ -195,8 +195,8 @@ int kvm_arm_sync_mpstate_to_qemu(ARMCPU *cpu);
 
 int kvm_arm_vgic_probe(void);
 
-int kvm_arm_pmu_set_irq(CPUState *cs, int irq);
-int kvm_arm_pmu_init(CPUState *cs);
+void kvm_arm_pmu_set_irq(CPUState *cs, int irq);
+void kvm_arm_pmu_init(CPUState *cs);
 
 #else
 
@@ -205,15 +205,8 @@ static inline int kvm_arm_vgic_probe(void)
     return 0;
 }
 
-static inline int kvm_arm_pmu_set_irq(CPUState *cs, int irq)
-{
-    return 0;
-}
-
-static inline int kvm_arm_pmu_init(CPUState *cs)
-{
-    return 0;
-}
+static inline void kvm_arm_pmu_set_irq(CPUState *cs, int irq) {}
+static inline void kvm_arm_pmu_init(CPUState *cs) {}
 
 #endif