diff --git a/numa.c b/numa.c
index 83675a03f3..a9528aaa7d 100644
--- a/numa.c
+++ b/numa.c
@@ -463,6 +463,7 @@ static void allocate_system_memory_nonnuma(MemoryRegion *mr, Object *owner,
             if (mem_prealloc) {
                 exit(1);
             }
+            error_report("falling back to regular RAM allocation.");
 
             /* Legacy behavior: if allocation failed, fall back to
              * regular RAM allocation.