diff --git a/manifests/compute/libvirt.pp b/manifests/compute/libvirt.pp
index abcd75d93..1eda96664 100644
--- a/manifests/compute/libvirt.pp
+++ b/manifests/compute/libvirt.pp
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@
 # [*libvirt_cpu_mode*]
 #   (optional) The libvirt CPU mode to configure.  Possible values
 #   include custom, host-model, none, host-passthrough.
-#   Defaults to 'host-model' if libvirt_virt_type is set to either
-#   kvm or qemu, otherwise defaults to 'none'.
+#   Defaults to 'host-model' if libvirt_virt_type is set to kvm,
+#   otherwise defaults to 'none'.
 #
 # [*libvirt_cpu_model*]
 #   (optional) The named libvirt CPU model (see names listed in
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ class nova::compute::libvirt (
   # libvirt_cpu_mode has different defaults depending on hypervisor.
   if !$libvirt_cpu_mode {
     case $libvirt_virt_type {
-      'kvm','qemu': {
+      'kvm': {
         $libvirt_cpu_mode_real = 'host-model'
       }
       default: {
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/cpu_mode-for-virt_type=qemu-is-now-none-da2f1ada88d6d2c0.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/cpu_mode-for-virt_type=qemu-is-now-none-da2f1ada88d6d2c0.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5b5dfb8a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/cpu_mode-for-virt_type=qemu-is-now-none-da2f1ada88d6d2c0.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - The default value for nova::compute::libvirt::libvirt_cpu_mode
+    when nova::compute::libvirt::libvirt_virt_type is set to 'qemu'
+    has been changed from 'host-model' to 'none'. The Nova gate
+    does not really test the 'host-model' option in their CI, but
+    'none' due to Devstack configuration, and it is known to create
+    issues with QEMU 2.6 (see 
+    https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1404627).
+
diff --git a/spec/acceptance/nova_wsgi_apache_spec.rb b/spec/acceptance/nova_wsgi_apache_spec.rb
index 76d18df92..6eccc611e 100644
--- a/spec/acceptance/nova_wsgi_apache_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/acceptance/nova_wsgi_apache_spec.rb
@@ -69,6 +69,12 @@ describe 'basic nova' do
         virtlock_service_name => false,
         virtlog_service_name  => false,
       }
+      # FIXME(jpena): this is only here to avoid an attempted downgrade
+      # of qemu-kvm-ev. Remove after https://review.openstack.org/411179
+      # is merged
+      if $::osfamily == 'RedHat' {
+          Package['qemu-kvm-ev'] -> Class['nova::compute::libvirt::services']
+      }
       class { '::nova::scheduler': }
       class { '::nova::vncproxy': }
 
diff --git a/spec/classes/nova_compute_libvirt_spec.rb b/spec/classes/nova_compute_libvirt_spec.rb
index 78826f0e6..098bc0457 100644
--- a/spec/classes/nova_compute_libvirt_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/nova_compute_libvirt_spec.rb
@@ -125,6 +125,14 @@ describe 'nova::compute::libvirt' do
       it { is_expected.to contain_nova_config('libvirt/cpu_model').with_value('kvm64')}
     end
 
+    describe 'with qemu as virt_type' do
+      let :params do
+        { :libvirt_virt_type => 'qemu' }
+      end
+
+      it { is_expected.to contain_nova_config('libvirt/cpu_mode').with_value('none')}
+    end
+
     describe 'with migration_support enabled' do
 
       context 'with vncserver_listen set to 0.0.0.0' do