diff --git a/virtualizationmanager/src/crosvm.rs b/virtualizationmanager/src/crosvm.rs
index 66efba9..ea1146e 100644
--- a/virtualizationmanager/src/crosvm.rs
+++ b/virtualizationmanager/src/crosvm.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 //! Functions for running instances of `crosvm`.
 
 use crate::aidl::{remove_temporary_files, Cid, VirtualMachineCallbacks};
-use crate::atom::write_vm_exited_stats;
+use crate::atom::{get_num_cpus, write_vm_exited_stats};
 use anyhow::{anyhow, bail, Context, Error, Result};
 use command_fds::CommandFdExt;
 use lazy_static::lazy_static;
@@ -734,7 +734,12 @@
     }
 
     if config.host_cpu_topology {
-        command.arg("--host-cpu-topology");
+        // TODO(b/266664564): replace with --host-cpu-topology once available
+        if let Some(cpus) = get_num_cpus() {
+            command.arg("--cpus").arg(cpus.to_string());
+        } else {
+            bail!("Could not determine the number of CPUs in the system");
+        }
     }
 
     if !config.task_profiles.is_empty() {