diff --git a/include/hw/arm/aspeed_soc.h b/include/hw/arm/aspeed_soc.h
index a060a5991874..0db5a41e7170 100644
--- a/include/hw/arm/aspeed_soc.h
+++ b/include/hw/arm/aspeed_soc.h
@@ -128,7 +128,8 @@ struct AspeedSoCClass {
     DeviceClass parent_class;
 
     const char *name;
-    const char *cpu_type;
+    /** valid_cpu_types: NULL terminated array of a single CPU type. */
+    const char * const *valid_cpu_types;
     uint32_t silicon_rev;
     uint64_t sram_size;
     uint64_t secsram_size;
diff --git a/hw/arm/aspeed.c b/hw/arm/aspeed.c
index d2d490a6d142..fc8355cdce14 100644
--- a/hw/arm/aspeed.c
+++ b/hw/arm/aspeed.c
@@ -1149,6 +1149,7 @@ static void aspeed_machine_class_init_cpus_defaults(MachineClass *mc)
     mc->default_cpus = sc->num_cpus;
     mc->min_cpus = sc->num_cpus;
     mc->max_cpus = sc->num_cpus;
+    mc->valid_cpu_types = sc->valid_cpu_types;
 }
 
 static void aspeed_machine_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
diff --git a/hw/arm/aspeed_ast10x0.c b/hw/arm/aspeed_ast10x0.c
index dca601a3f9b6..c3b5116a6a9d 100644
--- a/hw/arm/aspeed_ast10x0.c
+++ b/hw/arm/aspeed_ast10x0.c
@@ -417,13 +417,17 @@ static void aspeed_soc_ast1030_realize(DeviceState *dev_soc, Error **errp)
 
 static void aspeed_soc_ast1030_class_init(ObjectClass *klass, void *data)
 {
+    static const char * const valid_cpu_types[] = {
+        ARM_CPU_TYPE_NAME("cortex-m4"), /* TODO cortex-m4f */
+        NULL
+    };
     DeviceClass *dc = DEVICE_CLASS(klass);
     AspeedSoCClass *sc = ASPEED_SOC_CLASS(dc);
 
     dc->realize = aspeed_soc_ast1030_realize;
 
     sc->name = "ast1030-a1";
-    sc->cpu_type = ARM_CPU_TYPE_NAME("cortex-m4"); /* TODO cortex-m4f */
+    sc->valid_cpu_types = valid_cpu_types;
     sc->silicon_rev = AST1030_A1_SILICON_REV;
     sc->sram_size = 0xc0000;
     sc->secsram_size = 0x40000; /* 256 * KiB */
diff --git a/hw/arm/aspeed_ast2400.c b/hw/arm/aspeed_ast2400.c
index 3baf95916d46..8829561bb6c2 100644
--- a/hw/arm/aspeed_ast2400.c
+++ b/hw/arm/aspeed_ast2400.c
@@ -503,6 +503,10 @@ static void aspeed_ast2400_soc_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
 
 static void aspeed_soc_ast2400_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 {
+    static const char * const valid_cpu_types[] = {
+        ARM_CPU_TYPE_NAME("arm926"),
+        NULL
+    };
     AspeedSoCClass *sc = ASPEED_SOC_CLASS(oc);
     DeviceClass *dc = DEVICE_CLASS(oc);
 
@@ -511,7 +515,7 @@ static void aspeed_soc_ast2400_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
     dc->user_creatable = false;
 
     sc->name         = "ast2400-a1";
-    sc->cpu_type     = ARM_CPU_TYPE_NAME("arm926");
+    sc->valid_cpu_types = valid_cpu_types;
     sc->silicon_rev  = AST2400_A1_SILICON_REV;
     sc->sram_size    = 0x8000;
     sc->spis_num     = 1;
@@ -527,6 +531,10 @@ static void aspeed_soc_ast2400_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 
 static void aspeed_soc_ast2500_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 {
+    static const char * const valid_cpu_types[] = {
+        ARM_CPU_TYPE_NAME("arm1176"),
+        NULL
+    };
     AspeedSoCClass *sc = ASPEED_SOC_CLASS(oc);
     DeviceClass *dc = DEVICE_CLASS(oc);
 
@@ -535,7 +543,7 @@ static void aspeed_soc_ast2500_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
     dc->user_creatable = false;
 
     sc->name         = "ast2500-a1";
-    sc->cpu_type     = ARM_CPU_TYPE_NAME("arm1176");
+    sc->valid_cpu_types = valid_cpu_types;
     sc->silicon_rev  = AST2500_A1_SILICON_REV;
     sc->sram_size    = 0x9000;
     sc->spis_num     = 2;
diff --git a/hw/arm/aspeed_ast2600.c b/hw/arm/aspeed_ast2600.c
index b264433cf095..46baba0e4195 100644
--- a/hw/arm/aspeed_ast2600.c
+++ b/hw/arm/aspeed_ast2600.c
@@ -629,13 +629,17 @@ static void aspeed_soc_ast2600_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
 
 static void aspeed_soc_ast2600_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 {
+    static const char * const valid_cpu_types[] = {
+        ARM_CPU_TYPE_NAME("cortex-a7"),
+        NULL
+    };
     DeviceClass *dc = DEVICE_CLASS(oc);
     AspeedSoCClass *sc = ASPEED_SOC_CLASS(oc);
 
     dc->realize      = aspeed_soc_ast2600_realize;
 
     sc->name         = "ast2600-a3";
-    sc->cpu_type     = ARM_CPU_TYPE_NAME("cortex-a7");
+    sc->valid_cpu_types = valid_cpu_types;
     sc->silicon_rev  = AST2600_A3_SILICON_REV;
     sc->sram_size    = 0x16400;
     sc->spis_num     = 2;
diff --git a/hw/arm/aspeed_soc_common.c b/hw/arm/aspeed_soc_common.c
index 36ca189ce960..123a0c432cfd 100644
--- a/hw/arm/aspeed_soc_common.c
+++ b/hw/arm/aspeed_soc_common.c
@@ -20,7 +20,10 @@
 
 const char *aspeed_soc_cpu_type(AspeedSoCClass *sc)
 {
-    return sc->cpu_type;
+    assert(sc->valid_cpu_types);
+    assert(sc->valid_cpu_types[0]);
+    assert(!sc->valid_cpu_types[1]);
+    return sc->valid_cpu_types[0];
 }
 
 qemu_irq aspeed_soc_get_irq(AspeedSoCState *s, int dev)
