diff --git a/hw/riscv/virt.c b/hw/riscv/virt.c
index 1d05bb3ef9..c4b8f455f8 100644
--- a/hw/riscv/virt.c
+++ b/hw/riscv/virt.c
@@ -590,6 +590,16 @@ static void virt_machine_init(MachineState *machine)
         }
     }
 
+    if (riscv_is_32bit(&s->soc[0])) {
+#if HOST_LONG_BITS == 64
+        /* limit RAM size in a 32-bit system */
+        if (machine->ram_size > 10 * GiB) {
+            machine->ram_size = 10 * GiB;
+            error_report("Limiting RAM size to 10 GiB");
+        }
+#endif
+    }
+
     /* register system main memory (actual RAM) */
     memory_region_init_ram(main_mem, NULL, "riscv_virt_board.ram",
                            machine->ram_size, &error_fatal);