diff --git a/hw/arm/sbsa-ref.c b/hw/arm/sbsa-ref.c
index ae37a92301..396abe9c1b 100644
--- a/hw/arm/sbsa-ref.c
+++ b/hw/arm/sbsa-ref.c
@@ -621,6 +621,7 @@ static void create_smmu(const SBSAMachineState *sms, PCIBus *bus)
 
     dev = qdev_new(TYPE_ARM_SMMUV3);
 
+    object_property_set_str(OBJECT(dev), "stage", "nested", &error_abort);
     object_property_set_link(OBJECT(dev), "primary-bus", OBJECT(bus),
                              &error_abort);
     sysbus_realize_and_unref(SYS_BUS_DEVICE(dev), &error_fatal);