diff --git a/hw/i386/pc.c b/hw/i386/pc.c
index 25e8586b48..f721fde0c2 100644
--- a/hw/i386/pc.c
+++ b/hw/i386/pc.c
@@ -1820,8 +1820,10 @@ static void pc_cpu_plug(HotplugHandler *hotplug_dev,
 
     /* increment the number of CPUs */
     pcms->boot_cpus++;
-    if (dev->hotplugged) {
+    if (pcms->rtc) {
         rtc_set_cpus_count(pcms->rtc, pcms->boot_cpus);
+    }
+    if (pcms->fw_cfg) {
         fw_cfg_modify_i16(pcms->fw_cfg, FW_CFG_NB_CPUS, pcms->boot_cpus);
     }