diff --git a/hw/core/machine.c b/hw/core/machine.c
index f2a34d98c0..12d7416053 100644
--- a/hw/core/machine.c
+++ b/hw/core/machine.c
@@ -881,7 +881,7 @@ static void machine_set_smp(Object *obj, Visitor *v, const char *name,
     } else if (ms->smp.max_cpus > mc->max_cpus) {
         error_setg(errp, "Invalid SMP CPUs %d. The max CPUs "
                    "supported by machine '%s' is %d",
-                   current_machine->smp.max_cpus,
+                   ms->smp.max_cpus,
                    mc->name, mc->max_cpus);
     }