diff --git a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt
index b0e4b9cd6a66..75cd8fba0cde 100644
--- a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt
+++ b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt
@@ -175,10 +175,17 @@ Parameters: vcpu id (apic id on x86)
 Returns: vcpu fd on success, -1 on error
 
 This API adds a vcpu to a virtual machine.  The vcpu id is a small integer
-in the range [0, max_vcpus).  You can use KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS of the
-KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION ioctl() to determine the value for max_vcpus at run-time.
+in the range [0, max_vcpus).
+
+The recommended max_vcpus value can be retrieved using the KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS of
+the KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION ioctl() at run-time.
+The maximum possible value for max_vcpus can be retrieved using the
+KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS of the KVM_CHECK_EXTENSION ioctl() at run-time.
+
 If the KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS does not exist, you should assume that max_vcpus is 4
 cpus max.
+If the KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS does not exist, you should assume that max_vcpus is
+same as the value returned from KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS.
 
 On powerpc using book3s_hv mode, the vcpus are mapped onto virtual
 threads in one or more virtual CPU cores.  (This is because the
diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/kvm_host.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/kvm_host.h
index dd51c83aa5de..c00ec28e7147 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/kvm_host.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/kvm_host.h
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@
 #include <asm/mtrr.h>
 #include <asm/msr-index.h>
 
-#define KVM_MAX_VCPUS 64
+#define KVM_MAX_VCPUS 254
+#define KVM_SOFT_MAX_VCPUS 64
 #define KVM_MEMORY_SLOTS 32
 /* memory slots that does not exposed to userspace */
 #define KVM_PRIVATE_MEM_SLOTS 4
diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c b/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
index 2b76ae3cb501..41dfebea6218 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
@@ -2086,6 +2086,9 @@ int kvm_dev_ioctl_check_extension(long ext)
 		r = !kvm_x86_ops->cpu_has_accelerated_tpr();
 		break;
 	case KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS:
+		r = KVM_SOFT_MAX_VCPUS;
+		break;
+	case KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS:
 		r = KVM_MAX_VCPUS;
 		break;
 	case KVM_CAP_NR_MEMSLOTS:
diff --git a/include/linux/kvm.h b/include/linux/kvm.h
index aace6b8691a2..206979877888 100644
--- a/include/linux/kvm.h
+++ b/include/linux/kvm.h
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ struct kvm_ppc_pvinfo {
 #define KVM_CAP_VAPIC 6
 #define KVM_CAP_EXT_CPUID 7
 #define KVM_CAP_CLOCKSOURCE 8
-#define KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS 9       /* returns max vcpus per vm */
+#define KVM_CAP_NR_VCPUS 9       /* returns recommended max vcpus per vm */
 #define KVM_CAP_NR_MEMSLOTS 10   /* returns max memory slots per vm */
 #define KVM_CAP_PIT 11
 #define KVM_CAP_NOP_IO_DELAY 12
@@ -553,6 +553,7 @@ struct kvm_ppc_pvinfo {
 #define KVM_CAP_SPAPR_TCE 63
 #define KVM_CAP_PPC_SMT 64
 #define KVM_CAP_PPC_RMA	65
+#define KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS 66       /* returns max vcpus per vm */
 #define KVM_CAP_S390_GMAP 71
 
 #ifdef KVM_CAP_IRQ_ROUTING