diff --git a/target-arm/helper.c b/target-arm/helper.c
index 97af4d0bbae87bdadd3ce41c532eb79d92042a1d..3fe5822f617a154c2aff50dbf7d9572aa08545e6 100644
--- a/target-arm/helper.c
+++ b/target-arm/helper.c
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ CPUARMState *cpu_arm_init(const char *cpu_model)
         return NULL;
     env = g_malloc0(sizeof(CPUARMState));
     cpu_exec_init(env);
-    if (!inited) {
+    if (tcg_enabled() && !inited) {
         inited = 1;
         arm_translate_init();
     }