diff --git a/hw/mips_malta.c b/hw/mips_malta.c
index 2d3f242cc8..930c51c74d 100644
--- a/hw/mips_malta.c
+++ b/hw/mips_malta.c
@@ -957,7 +957,11 @@ void mips_malta_init (ram_addr_t ram_size,
     if (cirrus_vga_enabled) {
         pci_cirrus_vga_init(pci_bus);
     } else if (vmsvga_enabled) {
-        pci_vmsvga_init(pci_bus);
+        if (!pci_vmsvga_init(pci_bus)) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "Warning: vmware_vga not available,"
+                    " using standard VGA instead\n");
+            pci_vga_init(pci_bus);
+        }
     } else if (std_vga_enabled) {
         pci_vga_init(pci_bus);
     }
diff --git a/hw/pc.c b/hw/pc.c
index 4dfdc0be53..fcee09a005 100644
--- a/hw/pc.c
+++ b/hw/pc.c
@@ -1053,10 +1053,15 @@ void pc_vga_init(PCIBus *pci_bus)
             isa_cirrus_vga_init();
         }
     } else if (vmsvga_enabled) {
-        if (pci_bus)
-            pci_vmsvga_init(pci_bus);
-        else
+        if (pci_bus) {
+            if (!pci_vmsvga_init(pci_bus)) {
+                fprintf(stderr, "Warning: vmware_vga not available,"
+                        " using standard VGA instead\n");
+                pci_vga_init(pci_bus);
+            }
+        } else {
             fprintf(stderr, "%s: vmware_vga: no PCI bus\n", __FUNCTION__);
+        }
 #ifdef CONFIG_SPICE
     } else if (qxl_enabled) {
         if (pci_bus)
diff --git a/hw/vmware_vga.h b/hw/vmware_vga.h
index e7bcb22146..5132573a56 100644
--- a/hw/vmware_vga.h
+++ b/hw/vmware_vga.h
@@ -4,9 +4,16 @@
 #include "qemu-common.h"
 
 /* vmware_vga.c */
-static inline void pci_vmsvga_init(PCIBus *bus)
+static inline bool pci_vmsvga_init(PCIBus *bus)
 {
-    pci_create_simple(bus, -1, "vmware-svga");
+    PCIDevice *dev;
+
+    dev = pci_try_create(bus, -1, "vmware-svga");
+    if (!dev || qdev_init(&dev->qdev) < 0) {
+        return false;
+    } else {
+        return true;
+    }
 }
 
 #endif