diff --git a/hw/arm/virt.c b/hw/arm/virt.c
index f4ee71cda1..41b88dd144 100644
--- a/hw/arm/virt.c
+++ b/hw/arm/virt.c
@@ -488,6 +488,7 @@ static void fdt_add_its_gic_node(VirtMachineState *vms)
     qemu_fdt_setprop_string(ms->fdt, nodename, "compatible",
                             "arm,gic-v3-its");
     qemu_fdt_setprop(ms->fdt, nodename, "msi-controller", NULL, 0);
+    qemu_fdt_setprop_cell(ms->fdt, nodename, "#msi-cells", 1);
     qemu_fdt_setprop_sized_cells(ms->fdt, nodename, "reg",
                                  2, vms->memmap[VIRT_GIC_ITS].base,
                                  2, vms->memmap[VIRT_GIC_ITS].size);