diff --git a/hw/acpi/aml-build.c b/hw/acpi/aml-build.c
index 42feb4d4d7..ea331a20d1 100644
--- a/hw/acpi/aml-build.c
+++ b/hw/acpi/aml-build.c
@@ -2030,7 +2030,7 @@ void build_pptt(GArray *table_data, BIOSLinker *linker, MachineState *ms,
                 0, socket_id, NULL, 0);
         }
 
-        if (mc->smp_props.clusters_supported) {
+        if (mc->smp_props.clusters_supported && mc->smp_props.has_clusters) {
             if (cpus->cpus[n].props.cluster_id != cluster_id) {
                 assert(cpus->cpus[n].props.cluster_id > cluster_id);
                 cluster_id = cpus->cpus[n].props.cluster_id;
diff --git a/hw/core/machine-smp.c b/hw/core/machine-smp.c
index b39ed21e65..c3dab007da 100644
--- a/hw/core/machine-smp.c
+++ b/hw/core/machine-smp.c
@@ -158,6 +158,8 @@ void machine_parse_smp_config(MachineState *ms,
     ms->smp.threads = threads;
     ms->smp.max_cpus = maxcpus;
 
+    mc->smp_props.has_clusters = config->has_clusters;
+
     /* sanity-check of the computed topology */
     if (sockets * dies * clusters * cores * threads != maxcpus) {
         g_autofree char *topo_msg = cpu_hierarchy_to_string(ms);
diff --git a/include/hw/boards.h b/include/hw/boards.h
index d18d6d0073..b0abbdd5dc 100644
--- a/include/hw/boards.h
+++ b/include/hw/boards.h
@@ -130,11 +130,14 @@ typedef struct {
  * @prefer_sockets - whether sockets are preferred over cores in smp parsing
  * @dies_supported - whether dies are supported by the machine
  * @clusters_supported - whether clusters are supported by the machine
+ * @has_clusters - whether clusters are explicitly specified in the user
+ *                 provided SMP configuration
  */
 typedef struct {
     bool prefer_sockets;
     bool dies_supported;
     bool clusters_supported;
+    bool has_clusters;
 } SMPCompatProps;
 
 /**
diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
index 7f99d15b23..8662568324 100644
--- a/qemu-options.hx
+++ b/qemu-options.hx
@@ -343,6 +343,9 @@ SRST
     ::
 
         -smp 2
+
+    Note: The cluster topology will only be generated in ACPI and exposed
+    to guest if it's explicitly specified in -smp.
 ERST
 
 DEF("numa", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_numa,