diff --git a/hw/display/vga-isa.c b/hw/display/vga-isa.c
index 90851e730b..8cea84f2be 100644
--- a/hw/display/vga-isa.c
+++ b/hw/display/vga-isa.c
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include "hw/loader.h"
 #include "hw/qdev-properties.h"
 #include "qom/object.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 
 #define TYPE_ISA_VGA "isa-vga"
 OBJECT_DECLARE_SIMPLE_TYPE(ISAVGAState, ISA_VGA)
@@ -61,6 +62,15 @@ static void vga_isa_realizefn(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
     MemoryRegion *vga_io_memory;
     const MemoryRegionPortio *vga_ports, *vbe_ports;
 
+    /*
+     * make sure this device is not being added twice, if so
+     * exit without crashing qemu
+     */
+    if (object_resolve_path_type("", TYPE_ISA_VGA, NULL)) {
+        error_setg(errp, "at most one %s device is permitted", TYPE_ISA_VGA);
+        return;
+    }
+
     s->global_vmstate = true;
     vga_common_init(s, OBJECT(dev));
     s->legacy_address_space = isa_address_space(isadev);