diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
index 4fd16b43f0..e2b33e5890 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
@@ -4431,6 +4431,7 @@ static void spapr_machine_4_0_class_options(MachineClass *mc)
     compat_props_add(mc->compat_props, hw_compat_4_0, hw_compat_4_0_len);
     smc->phb_placement = phb_placement_4_0;
     smc->irq = &spapr_irq_xics;
+    smc->pre_4_1_migration = true;
 }
 
 DEFINE_SPAPR_MACHINE(4_0, "4.0", false);
diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr_caps.c b/hw/ppc/spapr_caps.c
index 658eb15a14..31b4661399 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr_caps.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr_caps.c
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ typedef struct SpaprCapabilityInfo {
     void (*apply)(SpaprMachineState *spapr, uint8_t val, Error **errp);
     void (*cpu_apply)(SpaprMachineState *spapr, PowerPCCPU *cpu,
                       uint8_t val, Error **errp);
+    bool (*migrate_needed)(void *opaque);
 } SpaprCapabilityInfo;
 
 static void spapr_cap_get_bool(Object *obj, Visitor *v, const char *name,
@@ -350,6 +351,11 @@ static void cap_hpt_maxpagesize_apply(SpaprMachineState *spapr,
     spapr_check_pagesize(spapr, qemu_minrampagesize(), errp);
 }
 
+static bool cap_hpt_maxpagesize_migrate_needed(void *opaque)
+{
+    return !SPAPR_MACHINE_GET_CLASS(opaque)->pre_4_1_migration;
+}
+
 static bool spapr_pagesize_cb(void *opaque, uint32_t seg_pshift,
                               uint32_t pshift)
 {
@@ -542,6 +548,7 @@ SpaprCapabilityInfo capability_table[SPAPR_CAP_NUM] = {
         .type = "int",
         .apply = cap_hpt_maxpagesize_apply,
         .cpu_apply = cap_hpt_maxpagesize_cpu_apply,
+        .migrate_needed = cap_hpt_maxpagesize_migrate_needed,
     },
     [SPAPR_CAP_NESTED_KVM_HV] = {
         .name = "nested-hv",
@@ -679,8 +686,11 @@ int spapr_caps_post_migration(SpaprMachineState *spapr)
 static bool spapr_cap_##sname##_needed(void *opaque)    \
 {                                                       \
     SpaprMachineState *spapr = opaque;                  \
+    bool (*needed)(void *opaque) =                      \
+        capability_table[cap].migrate_needed;           \
                                                         \
-    return spapr->cmd_line_caps[cap] &&                 \
+    return needed ? needed(opaque) : true &&            \
+           spapr->cmd_line_caps[cap] &&                 \
            (spapr->eff.caps[cap] !=                     \
             spapr->def.caps[cap]);                      \
 }                                                       \
diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
index 9fc91c8f5e..4f5becf1f3 100644
--- a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
+++ b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ struct SpaprMachineClass {
     bool pre_2_10_has_unused_icps;
     bool legacy_irq_allocation;
     bool broken_host_serial_model; /* present real host info to the guest */
+    bool pre_4_1_migration; /* don't migrate hpt-max-page-size */
 
     void (*phb_placement)(SpaprMachineState *spapr, uint32_t index,
                           uint64_t *buid, hwaddr *pio,