diff --git a/hw/pci/pcie_sriov.c b/hw/pci/pcie_sriov.c
index 1eb4358256..109b2ebccc 100644
--- a/hw/pci/pcie_sriov.c
+++ b/hw/pci/pcie_sriov.c
@@ -42,6 +42,11 @@ bool pcie_sriov_pf_init(PCIDevice *dev, uint16_t offset,
     uint8_t *cfg = dev->config + offset;
     uint8_t *wmask;
 
+    if (pci_is_vf(dev)) {
+        error_setg(errp, "a device cannot be a SR-IOV PF and a VF at the same time");
+        return false;
+    }
+
     if (total_vfs &&
         (uint32_t)devfn + (uint32_t)(total_vfs - 1) * vf_stride >= PCI_DEVFN_MAX) {
         error_setg(errp, "VF addr overflows");