diff --git a/tests/qtest/arm-cpu-features.c b/tests/qtest/arm-cpu-features.c
index 1cb08138ad..3fc33fc24d 100644
--- a/tests/qtest/arm-cpu-features.c
+++ b/tests/qtest/arm-cpu-features.c
@@ -506,9 +506,23 @@ static void test_query_cpu_model_expansion_kvm(const void *data)
         QDict *resp;
         char *error;
 
-        assert_error(qts, "cortex-a15",
-            "We cannot guarantee the CPU type 'cortex-a15' works "
-            "with KVM on this host", NULL);
+        /*
+         * When using KVM, only the 'host' and 'max' CPU models are
+         * supported. Test that we're emitting a suitable error for
+         * unsupported CPU models.
+         */
+        if (qtest_has_accel("tcg")) {
+            assert_error(qts, "cortex-a7",
+                         "We cannot guarantee the CPU type 'cortex-a7' works "
+                         "with KVM on this host", NULL);
+        } else {
+            /*
+             * With a KVM-only build the 32-bit CPUs are not present.
+             */
+            assert_error(qts, "cortex-a7",
+                         "The CPU type 'cortex-a7' is not a "
+                         "recognized ARM CPU type", NULL);
+        }
 
         assert_has_feature_enabled(qts, "host", "aarch64");