diff --git a/hw/i386/pc_sysfw.c b/hw/i386/pc_sysfw.c
index 6ce37a2b05..e353f2a4e9 100644
--- a/hw/i386/pc_sysfw.c
+++ b/hw/i386/pc_sysfw.c
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ void pc_system_flash_cleanup_unused(PCMachineState *pcms)
 
 #define OVMF_TABLE_FOOTER_GUID "96b582de-1fb2-45f7-baea-a366c55a082d"
 
+static bool ovmf_flash_parsed;
 static uint8_t *ovmf_table;
 static int ovmf_table_len;
 
@@ -136,10 +137,12 @@ static void pc_system_parse_ovmf_flash(uint8_t *flash_ptr, size_t flash_size)
     int tot_len;
 
     /* should only be called once */
-    if (ovmf_table) {
+    if (ovmf_flash_parsed) {
         return;
     }
 
+    ovmf_flash_parsed = true;
+
     if (flash_size < TARGET_PAGE_SIZE) {
         return;
     }
@@ -183,6 +186,8 @@ bool pc_system_ovmf_table_find(const char *entry, uint8_t **data,
     int tot_len = ovmf_table_len;
     QemuUUID entry_guid;
 
+    assert(ovmf_flash_parsed);
+
     if (qemu_uuid_parse(entry, &entry_guid) < 0) {
         return false;
     }