diff --git a/target/riscv/kvm/kvm-cpu.c b/target/riscv/kvm/kvm-cpu.c
index 473416649f..235e2cdaca 100644
--- a/target/riscv/kvm/kvm-cpu.c
+++ b/target/riscv/kvm/kvm-cpu.c
@@ -1777,7 +1777,14 @@ void kvm_riscv_aia_create(MachineState *machine, uint64_t group_shift,
         }
     }
 
-    hart_bits = find_last_bit(&max_hart_per_socket, BITS_PER_LONG) + 1;
+
+    if (max_hart_per_socket > 1) {
+        max_hart_per_socket--;
+        hart_bits = find_last_bit(&max_hart_per_socket, BITS_PER_LONG) + 1;
+    } else {
+        hart_bits = 0;
+    }
+
     ret = kvm_device_access(aia_fd, KVM_DEV_RISCV_AIA_GRP_CONFIG,
                             KVM_DEV_RISCV_AIA_CONFIG_HART_BITS,
                             &hart_bits, true, NULL);