diff --git a/hw/i386/x86.c b/hw/i386/x86.c
index 2b6291ad8d5f3e23806d825c4360a3dca4234b76..672de727629c0a7713f924b1ca5bc063947cd694 100644
--- a/hw/i386/x86.c
+++ b/hw/i386/x86.c
@@ -1105,7 +1105,7 @@ void x86_load_linux(X86MachineState *x86ms,
      * kernel on the other side of the fw_cfg interface matches the hash of the
      * file the user passed in.
      */
-    if (!sev_enabled()) {
+    if (!sev_enabled() && protocol > 0) {
         memcpy(setup, header, MIN(sizeof(header), setup_size));
     }