diff --git a/target/arm/cpu.c b/target/arm/cpu.c
index f844af567342f1266181af5aa08431529cf5a96f..76a5e2011150137084c068177224e4fd915bee96 100644
--- a/target/arm/cpu.c
+++ b/target/arm/cpu.c
@@ -763,8 +763,14 @@ static void arm_cpu_realizefn(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
         cpu->id_pfr1 &= ~0xf000;
     }
 
+    /* MPU can be configured out of a PMSA CPU either by setting has-mpu
+     * to false or by setting pmsav7-dregion to 0.
+     */
     if (!cpu->has_mpu) {
-        unset_feature(env, ARM_FEATURE_PMSA);
+        cpu->pmsav7_dregion = 0;
+    }
+    if (cpu->pmsav7_dregion == 0) {
+        cpu->has_mpu = false;
     }
 
     if (arm_feature(env, ARM_FEATURE_PMSA) &&