diff --git a/docs/man/xl.cfg.pod.5 b/docs/man/xl.cfg.pod.5
index ff9ea77624..ffd94a8bd2 100644
--- a/docs/man/xl.cfg.pod.5
+++ b/docs/man/xl.cfg.pod.5
@@ -143,11 +143,15 @@ Combining this with "all" is also possible, meaning "all,^nodes:1"
 results in all the vcpus of the guest running on all the cpus on the
 host, except for the cpus belonging to the host NUMA node 1.
 
-=item ["2", "3"] (or [2, 3])
+=item ["2", "3-8,^5"]
 
-To ask for specific vcpu mapping. That means (in this example), vcpu #0
-of the guest will run on cpu #2 of the host and vcpu #1 of the guest will
-run on cpu #3 of the host.
+To ask for specific vcpu mapping. That means (in this example), vcpu 0
+of the guest will run on cpu 2 of the host and vcpu 1 of the guest will
+run on cpus 3,4,6,7,8 of the host.
+
+More complex notation can be also used, exactly as described above. So
+"all,^5-8", or just "all", or "node:0,node:2,^9-11,18-20" are all legal,
+for each element of the list.
 
 =back
 
diff --git a/tools/libxl/xl_cmdimpl.c b/tools/libxl/xl_cmdimpl.c
index ad445b04c9..8c2ef074ed 100644
--- a/tools/libxl/xl_cmdimpl.c
+++ b/tools/libxl/xl_cmdimpl.c
@@ -808,16 +808,15 @@ static void parse_config_data(const char *config_source,
         b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity = xmalloc(num_cpus * sizeof(libxl_bitmap));
 
         while ((buf = xlu_cfg_get_listitem(cpus, j)) != NULL && j < num_cpus) {
-            i = atoi(buf);
-
             libxl_bitmap_init(&b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity[j]);
             if (libxl_cpu_bitmap_alloc(ctx,
                                        &b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity[j], 0)) {
                 fprintf(stderr, "Unable to allocate cpumap for vcpu %d\n", j);
                 exit(1);
             }
-            libxl_bitmap_set_none(&b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity[j]);
-            libxl_bitmap_set(&b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity[j], i);
+
+            if (vcpupin_parse(buf, &b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity[j]))
+                exit(1);
 
             j++;
         }
@@ -827,15 +826,31 @@ static void parse_config_data(const char *config_source,
         libxl_defbool_set(&b_info->numa_placement, false);
     }
     else if (!xlu_cfg_get_string (config, "cpus", &buf, 0)) {
-        if (libxl_cpu_bitmap_alloc(ctx, &b_info->cpumap, 0)) {
-            fprintf(stderr, "Unable to allocate cpumap\n");
+        b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity =
+            xmalloc(b_info->max_vcpus * sizeof(libxl_bitmap));
+
+        libxl_bitmap_init(&b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity[0]);
+        if (libxl_cpu_bitmap_alloc(ctx,
+                                   &b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity[0], 0)) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "Unable to allocate cpumap for vcpu 0\n");
             exit(1);
         }
 
-        libxl_bitmap_set_none(&b_info->cpumap);
-        if (vcpupin_parse(buf, &b_info->cpumap))
+        if (vcpupin_parse(buf, &b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity[0]))
             exit(1);
 
+        for (i = 1; i < b_info->max_vcpus; i++) {
+            libxl_bitmap_init(&b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity[i]);
+            if (libxl_cpu_bitmap_alloc(ctx,
+                                       &b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity[i], 0)) {
+                fprintf(stderr, "Unable to allocate cpumap for vcpu %d\n", i);
+                exit(1);
+            }
+            libxl_bitmap_copy(ctx, &b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity[i],
+                              &b_info->vcpu_hard_affinity[0]);
+        }
+        b_info->num_vcpu_hard_affinity = b_info->max_vcpus;
+
         libxl_defbool_set(&b_info->numa_placement, false);
     }