diff --git a/src/mainboard/emulation/qemu-i440fx/fw_cfg.c b/src/mainboard/emulation/qemu-i440fx/fw_cfg.c
index 01be2c3..3206e4c 100644
--- a/src/mainboard/emulation/qemu-i440fx/fw_cfg.c
+++ b/src/mainboard/emulation/qemu-i440fx/fw_cfg.c
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@
 	unsigned short max_cpus;
 
 	if (!fw_cfg_present())
-		return -1;
+		return 0;
 
 	fw_cfg_get(FW_CFG_MAX_CPUS, &max_cpus, sizeof(max_cpus));
 	return max_cpus;
diff --git a/src/mainboard/emulation/qemu-i440fx/northbridge.c b/src/mainboard/emulation/qemu-i440fx/northbridge.c
index d041b0c..9785a3a 100644
--- a/src/mainboard/emulation/qemu-i440fx/northbridge.c
+++ b/src/mainboard/emulation/qemu-i440fx/northbridge.c
@@ -265,11 +265,11 @@
 
 static void cpu_bus_scan(struct device *bus)
 {
-	int max_cpus = fw_cfg_max_cpus();
+	unsigned int max_cpus = fw_cfg_max_cpus();
 	struct device *cpu;
 	int i;
 
-	if (max_cpus < 0)
+	if (max_cpus == 0)
 		return;
 	/*
 	 * Do not install more CPUs than supported by coreboot.