diff --git a/hw/intc/s390_flic_kvm.c b/hw/intc/s390_flic_kvm.c
index 819aa5e198..cedccba8a9 100644
--- a/hw/intc/s390_flic_kvm.c
+++ b/hw/intc/s390_flic_kvm.c
@@ -589,12 +589,6 @@ static void kvm_s390_flic_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
         goto fail;
     }
     flic_state->fd = -1;
-    if (!kvm_check_extension(kvm_state, KVM_CAP_DEVICE_CTRL)) {
-        error_setg_errno(&errp_local, errno, "KVM is missing capability"
-                         " KVM_CAP_DEVICE_CTRL");
-        trace_flic_no_device_api(errno);
-        goto fail;
-    }
 
     cd.type = KVM_DEV_TYPE_FLIC;
     ret = kvm_vm_ioctl(kvm_state, KVM_CREATE_DEVICE, &cd);
diff --git a/hw/intc/trace-events b/hw/intc/trace-events
index 90c9d07c1a..719f46b516 100644
--- a/hw/intc/trace-events
+++ b/hw/intc/trace-events
@@ -75,7 +75,6 @@ xics_ics_simple_eoi(int nr) "ics_eoi: irq 0x%x"
 
 # s390_flic_kvm.c
 flic_create_device(int err) "flic: create device failed %d"
-flic_no_device_api(int err) "flic: no Device Contral API support %d"
 flic_reset_failed(int err) "flic: reset failed %d"
 
 # s390_flic.c
diff --git a/target/s390x/kvm.c b/target/s390x/kvm.c
index cea71ac7c3..97a662ad0e 100644
--- a/target/s390x/kvm.c
+++ b/target/s390x/kvm.c
@@ -316,6 +316,13 @@ int kvm_arch_init(MachineState *ms, KVMState *s)
     MachineClass *mc = MACHINE_GET_CLASS(ms);
 
     mc->default_cpu_type = S390_CPU_TYPE_NAME("host");
+
+    if (!kvm_check_extension(kvm_state, KVM_CAP_DEVICE_CTRL)) {
+        error_report("KVM is missing capability KVM_CAP_DEVICE_CTRL - "
+                     "please use kernel 3.15 or newer");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     cap_sync_regs = kvm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_SYNC_REGS);
     cap_async_pf = kvm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_ASYNC_PF);
     cap_mem_op = kvm_check_extension(s, KVM_CAP_S390_MEM_OP);