diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.c b/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.c
index 6f0533c342..35d1873b9f 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr_cpu_core.c
@@ -92,20 +92,20 @@ char *spapr_get_cpu_core_type(const char *model)
     gchar **model_pieces = g_strsplit(model, ",", 2);
 
     core_type = g_strdup_printf("%s-%s", model_pieces[0], TYPE_SPAPR_CPU_CORE);
-    g_strfreev(model_pieces);
 
     /* Check whether it exists or whether we have to look up an alias name */
     if (!object_class_by_name(core_type)) {
         const char *realmodel;
 
         g_free(core_type);
-        realmodel = ppc_cpu_lookup_alias(model);
+        core_type = NULL;
+        realmodel = ppc_cpu_lookup_alias(model_pieces[0]);
         if (realmodel) {
-            return spapr_get_cpu_core_type(realmodel);
+            core_type = spapr_get_cpu_core_type(realmodel);
         }
-        return NULL;
     }
 
+    g_strfreev(model_pieces);
     return core_type;
 }