diff --git a/tools/ioemu/vl.c b/tools/ioemu/vl.c
index c6798e5c92..924aa3c999 100644
--- a/tools/ioemu/vl.c
+++ b/tools/ioemu/vl.c
@@ -6390,6 +6390,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
             exit(1);
     }
 
+#if defined (__ia64__)
+    if (ram_size > MMIO_START)
+        ram_size += 1 * MEM_G; /* skip 3G-4G MMIO, LEGACY_IO_SPACE etc. */
+#endif
+
     /* init the memory */
     phys_ram_size = ram_size + vga_ram_size + bios_size;
 
@@ -6397,11 +6402,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     xc_handle = xc_interface_open();
 
-#if defined (__ia64__)
-    if (ram_size > MMIO_START)
-        ram_size += 1 * MEM_G; /* skip 3G-4G MMIO, LEGACY_IO_SPACE etc. */
-#endif
-
     nr_pages = ram_size/PAGE_SIZE;
     tmp_nr_pages = nr_pages;