diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
index 87d8366c44..0b57aade3f 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
@@ -2891,7 +2891,7 @@ static void spapr_machine_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
     mc->init = ppc_spapr_init;
     mc->reset = ppc_spapr_reset;
     mc->block_default_type = IF_SCSI;
-    mc->max_cpus = 255;
+    mc->max_cpus = 1024;
     mc->no_parallel = 1;
     mc->default_boot_order = "";
     mc->default_ram_size = 512 * M_BYTE;