diff --git a/hw/mem/pc-dimm.c b/hw/mem/pc-dimm.c
index 6cc6ac30e7..506fe0d2a8 100644
--- a/hw/mem/pc-dimm.c
+++ b/hw/mem/pc-dimm.c
@@ -417,10 +417,11 @@ static void pc_dimm_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
         error_setg(errp, "'" PC_DIMM_MEMDEV_PROP "' property is not set");
         return;
     }
-    if ((nb_numa_nodes > 0) && (dimm->node >= nb_numa_nodes)) {
+    if (((nb_numa_nodes > 0) && (dimm->node >= nb_numa_nodes)) ||
+        (!nb_numa_nodes && dimm->node)) {
         error_setg(errp, "'DIMM property " PC_DIMM_NODE_PROP " has value %"
                    PRIu32 "' which exceeds the number of numa nodes: %d",
-                   dimm->node, nb_numa_nodes);
+                   dimm->node, nb_numa_nodes ? nb_numa_nodes : 1);
         return;
     }
 }