diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
index 52f4e72b07..f3e0b9b45c 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
@@ -1560,13 +1560,19 @@ static int htab_save_setup(QEMUFile *f, void *opaque)
     sPAPRMachineState *spapr = opaque;
 
     /* "Iteration" header */
-    qemu_put_be32(f, spapr->htab_shift);
+    if (!spapr->htab_shift) {
+        qemu_put_be32(f, -1);
+    } else {
+        qemu_put_be32(f, spapr->htab_shift);
+    }
 
     if (spapr->htab) {
         spapr->htab_save_index = 0;
         spapr->htab_first_pass = true;
     } else {
-        assert(kvm_enabled());
+        if (spapr->htab_shift) {
+            assert(kvm_enabled());
+        }
     }
 
 
@@ -1712,7 +1718,12 @@ static int htab_save_iterate(QEMUFile *f, void *opaque)
     int rc = 0;
 
     /* Iteration header */
-    qemu_put_be32(f, 0);
+    if (!spapr->htab_shift) {
+        qemu_put_be32(f, -1);
+        return 0;
+    } else {
+        qemu_put_be32(f, 0);
+    }
 
     if (!spapr->htab) {
         assert(kvm_enabled());
@@ -1746,7 +1757,12 @@ static int htab_save_complete(QEMUFile *f, void *opaque)
     int fd;
 
     /* Iteration header */
-    qemu_put_be32(f, 0);
+    if (!spapr->htab_shift) {
+        qemu_put_be32(f, -1);
+        return 0;
+    } else {
+        qemu_put_be32(f, 0);
+    }
 
     if (!spapr->htab) {
         int rc;
@@ -1790,6 +1806,11 @@ static int htab_load(QEMUFile *f, void *opaque, int version_id)
 
     section_hdr = qemu_get_be32(f);
 
+    if (section_hdr == -1) {
+        spapr_free_hpt(spapr);
+        return 0;
+    }
+
     if (section_hdr) {
         Error *local_err = NULL;