diff --git a/hw/core/machine.c b/hw/core/machine.c
index 07f763eb2e..1000406211 100644
--- a/hw/core/machine.c
+++ b/hw/core/machine.c
@@ -1338,6 +1338,14 @@ void machine_run_board_init(MachineState *machine, const char *mem_path, Error *
         }
     } else if (machine_class->default_ram_id && machine->ram_size &&
                numa_uses_legacy_mem()) {
+        if (object_property_find(object_get_objects_root(),
+                                 machine_class->default_ram_id)) {
+            error_setg(errp, "object name '%s' is reserved for the default"
+                " RAM backend, it can't be used for any other purposes."
+                " Change the object's 'id' to something else",
+                machine_class->default_ram_id);
+            return;
+        }
         if (!create_default_memdev(current_machine, mem_path, errp)) {
             return;
         }