diff --git a/gns3server/compute/qemu/qemu_vm.py b/gns3server/compute/qemu/qemu_vm.py
index 191ae4d8..76db4bd8 100644
--- a/gns3server/compute/qemu/qemu_vm.py
+++ b/gns3server/compute/qemu/qemu_vm.py
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ class QemuVM(BaseNode):
         self._options = ""
         self._ram = 256
         self._cpus = 1
+        self._maxcpus = 1
         self._ethernet_adapters = []
         self._adapter_type = "e1000"
         self._initrd = ""
@@ -752,6 +753,27 @@ class QemuVM(BaseNode):
         log.info('QEMU VM "{name}" [{id}] has set the number of vCPUs to {cpus}'.format(name=self._name, id=self._id, cpus=cpus))
         self._cpus = cpus
 
+    @property
+    def maxcpus(self):
+        """
+        Returns the maximum number of hotpluggable vCPUs for this QEMU VM.
+
+        :returns: maximum number of hotpluggable vCPUs.
+        """
+
+        return self._maxcpus
+
+    @maxcpus.setter
+    def maxcpus(self, maxcpus):
+        """
+        Sets the maximum number of hotpluggable vCPUs for this QEMU VM.
+
+        :param maxcpus: maximum number of hotpluggable vCPUs
+        """
+
+        log.info('QEMU VM "{name}" [{id}] has set maximum number of hotpluggable vCPUs to {maxcpus}'.format(name=self._name, id=self._id, maxcpus=maxcpus))
+        self._maxcpus = maxcpus
+
     @property
     def options(self):
         """
@@ -2013,7 +2035,11 @@ class QemuVM(BaseNode):
         command = [self.qemu_path]
         command.extend(["-name", self._name])
         command.extend(["-m", "{}M".format(self._ram)])
-        command.extend(["-smp", "cpus={}".format(self._cpus)])
+        # set the maximum number of the hotpluggable CPUs to match the number of CPUs to avoid issues.
+        maxcpus = self._maxcpus
+        if self._cpus > maxcpus:
+            maxcpus = self._cpus
+        command.extend(["-smp", "cpus={},maxcpus={}".format(self._cpus, maxcpus)])
         if (await self._run_with_hardware_acceleration(self.qemu_path, self._options)):
             if sys.platform.startswith("linux"):
                 command.extend(["-enable-kvm"])
diff --git a/gns3server/schemas/qemu.py b/gns3server/schemas/qemu.py
index 567e5c3f..b4a9bcf3 100644
--- a/gns3server/schemas/qemu.py
+++ b/gns3server/schemas/qemu.py
@@ -145,6 +145,12 @@ QEMU_CREATE_SCHEMA = {
             "minimum": 1,
             "maximum": 255,
         },
+        "maxcpus": {
+            "description": "Maximum number of hotpluggable vCPUs",
+            "type": ["integer", "null"],
+            "minimum": 1,
+            "maximum": 255,
+        },
         "adapters": {
             "description": "Number of adapters",
             "type": ["integer", "null"],
@@ -335,6 +341,12 @@ QEMU_UPDATE_SCHEMA = {
             "minimum": 1,
             "maximum": 255,
         },
+        "maxcpus": {
+            "description": "Maximum number of hotpluggable vCPUs",
+            "type": ["integer", "null"],
+            "minimum": 1,
+            "maximum": 255,
+        },
         "adapters": {
             "description": "Number of adapters",
             "type": ["integer", "null"],
@@ -528,6 +540,12 @@ QEMU_OBJECT_SCHEMA = {
             "minimum": 1,
             "maximum": 255,
         },
+        "maxcpus": {
+            "description": "Maximum number of hotpluggable vCPUs",
+            "type": ["integer", "null"],
+            "minimum": 1,
+            "maximum": 255,
+        },
         "adapters": {
             "description": "Number of adapters",
             "type": "integer",
@@ -642,6 +660,7 @@ QEMU_OBJECT_SCHEMA = {
                  "boot_priority",
                  "ram",
                  "cpus",
+                 "maxcpus",
                  "adapters",
                  "adapter_type",
                  "mac_address",
diff --git a/gns3server/schemas/qemu_template.py b/gns3server/schemas/qemu_template.py
index 28cb9d50..ae3a5ffe 100644
--- a/gns3server/schemas/qemu_template.py
+++ b/gns3server/schemas/qemu_template.py
@@ -49,6 +49,13 @@ QEMU_TEMPLATE_PROPERTIES = {
         "maximum": 255,
         "default": 1
     },
+    "maxcpus": {
+        "description": "Maximum number of hotpluggable vCPUs",
+        "type": "integer",
+        "minimum": 1,
+        "maximum": 255,
+        "default": 1
+    },
     "adapters": {
         "description": "Number of adapters",
         "type": "integer",