diff --git a/hw/riscv/virt.c b/hw/riscv/virt.c
index e54e1257c0..a67ab80b16 100644
--- a/hw/riscv/virt.c
+++ b/hw/riscv/virt.c
@@ -59,9 +59,11 @@
 #include "hw/virtio/virtio-iommu.h"
 
 /* KVM AIA only supports APLIC MSI. APLIC Wired is always emulated by QEMU. */
-static bool virt_use_kvm_aia(RISCVVirtState *s)
+static bool virt_use_kvm_aia_aplic_imsic(RISCVVirtAIAType aia_type)
 {
-    return kvm_irqchip_in_kernel() && s->aia_type == VIRT_AIA_TYPE_APLIC_IMSIC;
+    bool msimode = aia_type == VIRT_AIA_TYPE_APLIC_IMSIC;
+
+    return riscv_is_kvm_aia_aplic_imsic(msimode);
 }
 
 static bool virt_aclint_allowed(void)
@@ -777,8 +779,8 @@ static void create_fdt_sockets(RISCVVirtState *s, const MemMapEntry *memmap,
         *msi_pcie_phandle = msi_s_phandle;
     }
 
-    /* KVM AIA only has one APLIC instance */
-    if (kvm_enabled() && virt_use_kvm_aia(s)) {
+    /* KVM AIA aplic-imsic only has one APLIC instance */
+    if (kvm_enabled() && virt_use_kvm_aia_aplic_imsic(s->aia_type)) {
         create_fdt_socket_aplic(s, memmap, 0,
                                 msi_m_phandle, msi_s_phandle, phandle,
                                 &intc_phandles[0], xplic_phandles,
@@ -1619,7 +1621,7 @@ static void virt_machine_init(MachineState *machine)
         }
     }
 
-    if (kvm_enabled() && virt_use_kvm_aia(s)) {
+    if (kvm_enabled() && virt_use_kvm_aia_aplic_imsic(s->aia_type)) {
         kvm_riscv_aia_create(machine, IMSIC_MMIO_GROUP_MIN_SHIFT,
                              VIRT_IRQCHIP_NUM_SOURCES, VIRT_IRQCHIP_NUM_MSIS,
                              memmap[VIRT_APLIC_S].base,