diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
index 26b3432fe4..c6af456cfc 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
@@ -4286,7 +4286,7 @@ int spapr_get_vcpu_id(PowerPCCPU *cpu)
     return cpu->vcpu_id;
 }
 
-void spapr_set_vcpu_id(PowerPCCPU *cpu, int cpu_index, Error **errp)
+bool spapr_set_vcpu_id(PowerPCCPU *cpu, int cpu_index, Error **errp)
 {
     SpaprMachineState *spapr = SPAPR_MACHINE(qdev_get_machine());
     MachineState *ms = MACHINE(spapr);
@@ -4299,10 +4299,11 @@ void spapr_set_vcpu_id(PowerPCCPU *cpu, int cpu_index, Error **errp)
         error_append_hint(errp, "Adjust the number of cpus to %d "
                           "or try to raise the number of threads per core\n",
                           vcpu_id * ms->smp.threads / spapr->vsmt);
-        return;
+        return false;
     }
 
     cpu->vcpu_id = vcpu_id;
+    return true;
 }
 
 PowerPCCPU *spapr_find_cpu(int vcpu_id)
diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.c b/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.c
index 3e4f402b2e..0c879d4da2 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.c
@@ -262,7 +262,6 @@ static PowerPCCPU *spapr_create_vcpu(SpaprCpuCore *sc, int i, Error **errp)
     char *id;
     CPUState *cs;
     PowerPCCPU *cpu;
-    Error *local_err = NULL;
 
     obj = object_new(scc->cpu_type);
 
@@ -274,8 +273,7 @@ static PowerPCCPU *spapr_create_vcpu(SpaprCpuCore *sc, int i, Error **errp)
      */
     cs->start_powered_off = true;
     cs->cpu_index = cc->core_id + i;
-    spapr_set_vcpu_id(cpu, cs->cpu_index, &local_err);
-    if (local_err) {
+    if (!spapr_set_vcpu_id(cpu, cs->cpu_index, errp)) {
         goto err;
     }
 
@@ -292,7 +290,6 @@ static PowerPCCPU *spapr_create_vcpu(SpaprCpuCore *sc, int i, Error **errp)
 
 err:
     object_unref(obj);
-    error_propagate(errp, local_err);
     return NULL;
 }
 
diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
index 194f3b9d07..02f3c29838 100644
--- a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
+++ b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
@@ -902,7 +902,7 @@ void spapr_do_system_reset_on_cpu(CPUState *cs, run_on_cpu_data arg);
 #define HTAB_SIZE(spapr)        (1ULL << ((spapr)->htab_shift))
 
 int spapr_get_vcpu_id(PowerPCCPU *cpu);
-void spapr_set_vcpu_id(PowerPCCPU *cpu, int cpu_index, Error **errp);
+bool spapr_set_vcpu_id(PowerPCCPU *cpu, int cpu_index, Error **errp);
 PowerPCCPU *spapr_find_cpu(int vcpu_id);
 
 int spapr_caps_pre_load(void *opaque);