diff --git a/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py b/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
index 4e94b60..0b5f540 100644
--- a/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
+++ b/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
@@ -3454,6 +3454,12 @@ class LibvirtDriver(driver.ComputeDriver):
             # No NUMA topology defined for instance
             vcpus = flavor.vcpus
             memory = flavor.memory_mb
+            # Note (tonyb): If we're running under qemu (as opposed to kvm) and
+            #               and the instance dosn't contain a numa config just
+            #               return an 'empty' GuestNumaConfig tuple.
+            if CONF.libvirt.virt_type == "qemu":
+                LOG.info('Disabling NUMA in qemu/TCG mode')
+                return GuestNumaConfig(None, None, None, None)
             if topology:
                 # Host is NUMA capable so try to keep the instance in a cell
                 pci_cells = {pci.numa_node for pci in pci_devs}