diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 586aa9a70a67e8c419e37ebf5240491dc945aebb..89de00398f22e3da745f28ab35f8b4492d90507b 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -1258,6 +1258,12 @@ static void numa_add(const char *optarg)
         optarg++;
     }
     if (!strcmp(option, "node")) {
+
+        if (nb_numa_nodes >= MAX_NODES) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "qemu: too many NUMA nodes\n");
+            exit(1);
+        }
+
         if (get_param_value(option, 128, "nodeid", optarg) == 0) {
             nodenr = nb_numa_nodes;
         } else {
@@ -3003,10 +3009,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                 }
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_numa:
-                if (nb_numa_nodes >= MAX_NODES) {
-                    fprintf(stderr, "qemu: too many NUMA nodes\n");
-                    exit(1);
-                }
                 numa_add(optarg);
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_display: