diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
index 74ae83bb77..7b2a11fbe4 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
@@ -779,6 +779,11 @@ static void ppc_spapr_init(QEMUMachineInitArgs *args)
         spapr->htab_shift++;
     }
 
+    /* Set up Interrupt Controller before we create the VCPUs */
+    spapr->icp = xics_system_init(smp_cpus * kvmppc_smt_threads() / smp_threads,
+                                  XICS_IRQS);
+    spapr->next_irq = XICS_IRQ_BASE;
+
     /* init CPUs */
     if (cpu_model == NULL) {
         cpu_model = kvm_enabled() ? "host" : "POWER7";
@@ -791,6 +796,8 @@ static void ppc_spapr_init(QEMUMachineInitArgs *args)
         }
         env = &cpu->env;
 
+        xics_cpu_setup(spapr->icp, cpu);
+
         /* Set time-base frequency to 512 MHz */
         cpu_ppc_tb_init(env, TIMEBASE_FREQ);
 
@@ -830,11 +837,6 @@ static void ppc_spapr_init(QEMUMachineInitArgs *args)
     }
     g_free(filename);
 
-
-    /* Set up Interrupt Controller */
-    spapr->icp = xics_system_init(XICS_IRQS);
-    spapr->next_irq = XICS_IRQ_BASE;
-
     /* Set up EPOW events infrastructure */
     spapr_events_init(spapr);
 
diff --git a/hw/ppc/xics.c b/hw/ppc/xics.c
index c3ef12fff4..374da5bbfd 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/xics.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/xics.c
@@ -521,46 +521,39 @@ static void xics_reset(void *opaque)
     }
 }
 
-struct icp_state *xics_system_init(int nr_irqs)
+void xics_cpu_setup(struct icp_state *icp, PowerPCCPU *cpu)
+{
+    CPUState *cs = CPU(cpu);
+    CPUPPCState *env = &cpu->env;
+    struct icp_server_state *ss = &icp->ss[cs->cpu_index];
+
+    assert(cs->cpu_index < icp->nr_servers);
+
+    switch (PPC_INPUT(env)) {
+    case PPC_FLAGS_INPUT_POWER7:
+        ss->output = env->irq_inputs[POWER7_INPUT_INT];
+        break;
+
+    case PPC_FLAGS_INPUT_970:
+        ss->output = env->irq_inputs[PPC970_INPUT_INT];
+        break;
+
+    default:
+        fprintf(stderr, "XICS interrupt controller does not support this CPU "
+                "bus model\n");
+        abort();
+    }
+}
+
+struct icp_state *xics_system_init(int nr_servers, int nr_irqs)
 {
-    CPUPPCState *env;
-    CPUState *cpu;
-    int max_server_num;
     struct icp_state *icp;
     struct ics_state *ics;
 
-    max_server_num = -1;
-    for (env = first_cpu; env != NULL; env = env->next_cpu) {
-        cpu = CPU(ppc_env_get_cpu(env));
-        if (cpu->cpu_index > max_server_num) {
-            max_server_num = cpu->cpu_index;
-        }
-    }
-
     icp = g_malloc0(sizeof(*icp));
-    icp->nr_servers = max_server_num + 1;
+    icp->nr_servers = nr_servers;
     icp->ss = g_malloc0(icp->nr_servers*sizeof(struct icp_server_state));
 
-    for (env = first_cpu; env != NULL; env = env->next_cpu) {
-        cpu = CPU(ppc_env_get_cpu(env));
-        struct icp_server_state *ss = &icp->ss[cpu->cpu_index];
-
-        switch (PPC_INPUT(env)) {
-        case PPC_FLAGS_INPUT_POWER7:
-            ss->output = env->irq_inputs[POWER7_INPUT_INT];
-            break;
-
-        case PPC_FLAGS_INPUT_970:
-            ss->output = env->irq_inputs[PPC970_INPUT_INT];
-            break;
-
-        default:
-            hw_error("XICS interrupt model does not support this CPU bus "
-                     "model\n");
-            exit(1);
-        }
-    }
-
     ics = g_malloc0(sizeof(*ics));
     ics->nr_irqs = nr_irqs;
     ics->offset = XICS_IRQ_BASE;
diff --git a/hw/xics.h b/hw/xics.h
index c3bf0083e2..6bce0424df 100644
--- a/hw/xics.h
+++ b/hw/xics.h
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ struct icp_state;
 qemu_irq xics_get_qirq(struct icp_state *icp, int irq);
 void xics_set_irq_type(struct icp_state *icp, int irq, bool lsi);
 
-struct icp_state *xics_system_init(int nr_irqs);
+struct icp_state *xics_system_init(int nr_servers, int nr_irqs);
+void xics_cpu_setup(struct icp_state *icp, PowerPCCPU *cpu);
 
 #endif /* __XICS_H__ */