diff --git a/target/i386/sev.c b/target/i386/sev.c
index 054366878a..2f3dbe289f 100644
--- a/target/i386/sev.c
+++ b/target/i386/sev.c
@@ -587,13 +587,13 @@ static SevCapability *sev_get_capabilities(Error **errp)
     }
 
     sev_common = SEV_COMMON(MACHINE(qdev_get_machine())->cgs);
-    if (!sev_common) {
-        error_setg(errp, "SEV is not configured");
-        return NULL;
+    if (sev_common) {
+        sev_device = object_property_get_str(OBJECT(sev_common), "sev-device",
+                                             &error_abort);
+    } else {
+        sev_device = g_strdup(DEFAULT_SEV_DEVICE);
     }
 
-    sev_device = object_property_get_str(OBJECT(sev_common), "sev-device",
-                                         &error_abort);
     fd = open(sev_device, O_RDWR);
     if (fd < 0) {
         error_setg_errno(errp, errno, "SEV: Failed to open %s",