diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
index 2077e4b3c6..a952a39836 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
@@ -2824,9 +2824,11 @@ static void spapr_core_pre_plug(HotplugHandler *hotplug_dev, DeviceState *dev,
     MachineClass *mc = MACHINE_GET_CLASS(hotplug_dev);
     Error *local_err = NULL;
     CPUCore *cc = CPU_CORE(dev);
+    sPAPRCPUCore *sc = SPAPR_CPU_CORE(dev);
     char *base_core_type = spapr_get_cpu_core_type(machine->cpu_model);
     const char *type = object_get_typename(OBJECT(dev));
     CPUArchId *core_slot;
+    int node_id;
     int index;
 
     if (dev->hotplugged && !mc->has_hotpluggable_cpus) {
@@ -2861,6 +2863,21 @@ static void spapr_core_pre_plug(HotplugHandler *hotplug_dev, DeviceState *dev,
         goto out;
     }
 
+    node_id = numa_get_node_for_cpu(cc->core_id);
+    if (node_id == nb_numa_nodes) {
+        /* by default CPUState::numa_node was 0 if it's not set via CLI
+         * keep it this way for now but in future we probably should
+         * refuse to start up with incomplete numa mapping */
+        node_id = 0;
+    }
+    if (sc->node_id == CPU_UNSET_NUMA_NODE_ID) {
+        sc->node_id = node_id;
+    } else if (sc->node_id != node_id) {
+        error_setg(&local_err, "node-id %d must match numa node specified"
+            "with -numa option for cpu-index %d", sc->node_id, cc->core_id);
+        goto out;
+    }
+
 out:
     g_free(base_core_type);
     error_propagate(errp, local_err);
diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.c b/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.c
index 4389ef4c2a..9de7a5610c 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.c
@@ -176,7 +176,6 @@ static void spapr_cpu_core_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
     const char *typename = object_class_get_name(scc->cpu_class);
     size_t size = object_type_get_instance_size(typename);
     Error *local_err = NULL;
-    int core_node_id = numa_get_node_for_cpu(cc->core_id);;
     void *obj;
     int i, j;
 
@@ -194,10 +193,10 @@ static void spapr_cpu_core_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
 
         /* Set NUMA node for the added CPUs  */
         node_id = numa_get_node_for_cpu(cs->cpu_index);
-        if (node_id != core_node_id) {
+        if (node_id != sc->node_id) {
             error_setg(&local_err, "Invalid node-id=%d of thread[cpu-index: %d]"
                 " on CPU[core-id: %d, node-id: %d], node-id must be the same",
-                 node_id, cs->cpu_index, cc->core_id, core_node_id);
+                 node_id, cs->cpu_index, cc->core_id, sc->node_id);
             goto err;
         }
         if (node_id < nb_numa_nodes) {
@@ -263,6 +262,11 @@ static const char *spapr_core_models[] = {
     "POWER9_v1.0",
 };
 
+static Property spapr_cpu_core_properties[] = {
+    DEFINE_PROP_INT32("node-id", sPAPRCPUCore, node_id, CPU_UNSET_NUMA_NODE_ID),
+    DEFINE_PROP_END_OF_LIST()
+};
+
 void spapr_cpu_core_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 {
     DeviceClass *dc = DEVICE_CLASS(oc);
@@ -270,6 +274,7 @@ void spapr_cpu_core_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 
     dc->realize = spapr_cpu_core_realize;
     dc->unrealize = spapr_cpu_core_unrealizefn;
+    dc->props = spapr_cpu_core_properties;
     scc->cpu_class = cpu_class_by_name(TYPE_POWERPC_CPU, data);
     g_assert(scc->cpu_class);
 }
diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.h b/include/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.h
index 3c35665221..93051e9ecf 100644
--- a/include/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.h
+++ b/include/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.h
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ typedef struct sPAPRCPUCore {
 
     /*< public >*/
     void *threads;
+    int node_id;
 } sPAPRCPUCore;
 
 typedef struct sPAPRCPUCoreClass {
diff --git a/include/qom/cpu.h b/include/qom/cpu.h
index 5d10359c8f..55214ce131 100644
--- a/include/qom/cpu.h
+++ b/include/qom/cpu.h
@@ -258,6 +258,8 @@ typedef void (*run_on_cpu_func)(CPUState *cpu, run_on_cpu_data data);
 
 struct qemu_work_item;
 
+#define CPU_UNSET_NUMA_NODE_ID -1
+
 /**
  * CPUState:
  * @cpu_index: CPU index (informative).