diff --git a/hw/core/numa.c b/hw/core/numa.c
index 1058d3697b15..510d096a8886 100644
--- a/hw/core/numa.c
+++ b/hw/core/numa.c
@@ -88,6 +88,29 @@ static void parse_numa_node(MachineState *ms, NumaNodeOptions *node,
         return;
     }
 
+    /*
+     * If not set the initiator, set it to MAX_NODES. And if
+     * HMAT is enabled and this node has no cpus, QEMU will raise error.
+     */
+    numa_info[nodenr].initiator = MAX_NODES;
+    if (node->has_initiator) {
+        if (!ms->numa_state->hmat_enabled) {
+            error_setg(errp, "ACPI Heterogeneous Memory Attribute Table "
+                       "(HMAT) is disabled, enable it with -machine hmat=on "
+                       "before using any of hmat specific options");
+            return;
+        }
+
+        if (node->initiator >= MAX_NODES) {
+            error_report("The initiator id %" PRIu16 " expects an integer "
+                         "between 0 and %d", node->initiator,
+                         MAX_NODES - 1);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        numa_info[nodenr].initiator = node->initiator;
+    }
+
     for (cpus = node->cpus; cpus; cpus = cpus->next) {
         CpuInstanceProperties props;
         if (cpus->value >= max_cpus) {
@@ -142,28 +165,6 @@ static void parse_numa_node(MachineState *ms, NumaNodeOptions *node,
         numa_info[nodenr].node_memdev = MEMORY_BACKEND(o);
     }
 
-    /*
-     * If not set the initiator, set it to MAX_NODES. And if
-     * HMAT is enabled and this node has no cpus, QEMU will raise error.
-     */
-    numa_info[nodenr].initiator = MAX_NODES;
-    if (node->has_initiator) {
-        if (!ms->numa_state->hmat_enabled) {
-            error_setg(errp, "ACPI Heterogeneous Memory Attribute Table "
-                       "(HMAT) is disabled, enable it with -machine hmat=on "
-                       "before using any of hmat specific options");
-            return;
-        }
-
-        if (node->initiator >= MAX_NODES) {
-            error_report("The initiator id %" PRIu16 " expects an integer "
-                         "between 0 and %d", node->initiator,
-                         MAX_NODES - 1);
-            return;
-        }
-
-        numa_info[nodenr].initiator = node->initiator;
-    }
     numa_info[nodenr].present = true;
     max_numa_nodeid = MAX(max_numa_nodeid, nodenr + 1);
     ms->numa_state->num_nodes++;