diff --git a/tools/libxl/libxl_create.c b/tools/libxl/libxl_create.c
index 855b42c831..0294844ac4 100644
--- a/tools/libxl/libxl_create.c
+++ b/tools/libxl/libxl_create.c
@@ -883,6 +883,13 @@ static void initiate_domain_create(libxl__egc *egc,
         goto error_out;
     }
 
+    if (d_config->c_info.type == LIBXL_DOMAIN_TYPE_HVM &&
+        (libxl_defbool_val(d_config->b_info.u.hvm.nested_hvm) &&
+         libxl_defbool_val(d_config->b_info.u.hvm.altp2m))) {
+        LOG(ERROR, "nestedhvm and altp2mhvm cannot be used together");
+        goto error_out;
+    }
+
     for (i = 0; i < d_config->num_disks; i++) {
         ret = libxl__device_disk_setdefault(gc, &d_config->disks[i]);
         if (ret) {
diff --git a/tools/libxl/xl_cmdimpl.c b/tools/libxl/xl_cmdimpl.c
index d0bf0cb924..9755d55260 100644
--- a/tools/libxl/xl_cmdimpl.c
+++ b/tools/libxl/xl_cmdimpl.c
@@ -1568,14 +1568,6 @@ static void parse_config_data(const char *config_source,
 
         xlu_cfg_get_defbool(config, "altp2mhvm", &b_info->u.hvm.altp2m, 0);
 
-        if (!libxl_defbool_is_default(b_info->u.hvm.nested_hvm) &&
-            libxl_defbool_val(b_info->u.hvm.nested_hvm) &&
-            !libxl_defbool_is_default(b_info->u.hvm.altp2m) &&
-            libxl_defbool_val(b_info->u.hvm.altp2m)) {
-            fprintf(stderr, "ERROR: nestedhvm and altp2mhvm cannot be used together\n");
-            exit(1);
-        }
-
         xlu_cfg_replace_string(config, "smbios_firmware",
                                &b_info->u.hvm.smbios_firmware, 0);
         xlu_cfg_replace_string(config, "acpi_firmware",