diff --git a/qemu/tests/cfg/hotplug_virtio_mem.cfg b/qemu/tests/cfg/hotplug_virtio_mem.cfg
index c6a94de17a..2ce82a6468 100644
--- a/qemu/tests/cfg/hotplug_virtio_mem.cfg
+++ b/qemu/tests/cfg/hotplug_virtio_mem.cfg
@@ -28,4 +28,8 @@
     kernel_extra_params_add = "memhp_default_state=online_movable"
     pcie_extra_root_port = 1
     requested-size_test_vmem0 = "4G 2G"
-    error_msg = "virtio-mem device cannot get unplugged while 'size' != '0'"
+    variants operation:
+        - @default:
+        - with_unplug:
+            required_qemu = [8.1.0,)
+            error_msg = "virtio-mem device cannot get unplugged while 'size' != '0'"
diff --git a/qemu/tests/hotplug_virtio_mem.py b/qemu/tests/hotplug_virtio_mem.py
index 13ce657252..be8ced6510 100644
--- a/qemu/tests/hotplug_virtio_mem.py
+++ b/qemu/tests/hotplug_virtio_mem.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ def run(test, params, env):
     timeout = params.get_numeric("login_timeout", 240)
     threshold = params.get_numeric("threshold", target_type=float)
     error_msg = params.get("error_msg")
+    operation = params.get("operation")
     vm = env.get_vm(params["main_vm"])
     vm.verify_alive()
     session = vm.wait_for_login(timeout=timeout)
@@ -37,36 +38,41 @@ def run(test, params, env):
     device_id = vmem_dev.get_qid()
     requested_size_vmem_test = params.get("requested-size_test_%s" % target_mem)
 
-    node_id = int(vmem_dev.get_param('node'))
-    req_size = vmem_dev.get_param('requested-size')
-    initial_req_size = str(int(float(normalize_data_size(req_size, 'B'))))
+    node_id = int(vmem_dev.get_param("node"))
+    req_size = vmem_dev.get_param("requested-size")
+    initial_req_size = str(int(float(normalize_data_size(req_size, "B"))))
 
-    virtio_mem_utils.check_memory_devices(device_id, initial_req_size,
-                                          threshold, vm, test)
-    virtio_mem_utils.check_numa_plugged_mem(node_id, initial_req_size,
-                                            threshold, vm, test)
+    virtio_mem_utils.check_memory_devices(
+        device_id, initial_req_size, threshold, vm, test
+    )
+    virtio_mem_utils.check_numa_plugged_mem(
+        node_id, initial_req_size, threshold, vm, test
+    )
     for requested_size in requested_size_vmem_test.split():
-        req_size_normalized = int(float(normalize_data_size(requested_size,
-                                  'B')))
-        vm.monitor.qom_set(device_id, "requested-size",
-                           req_size_normalized)
+        req_size_normalized = int(float(normalize_data_size(requested_size, "B")))
+        vm.monitor.qom_set(device_id, "requested-size", req_size_normalized)
         time.sleep(30)
-        virtio_mem_utils.check_memory_devices(device_id, requested_size,
-                                              threshold, vm, test)
-        virtio_mem_utils.check_numa_plugged_mem(node_id, requested_size,
-                                                threshold, vm, test)
-    try:
-        hotplug_test.unplug_memory(vm, target_mem)
-    except QMPCmdError as e:
-        if error_msg not in str(e.data):
-            test.fail("Unexpected error message: %s" % str(e.data))
-        test.log.info(error_msg)
-    else:
-        test.fail("%s shouldn't have been unplugged! 'size' is greater than 0"
-                  % target_mem)
+        virtio_mem_utils.check_memory_devices(
+            device_id, requested_size, threshold, vm, test
+        )
+        virtio_mem_utils.check_numa_plugged_mem(
+            node_id, requested_size, threshold, vm, test
+        )
+    if operation == "with_unplug":
+        try:
+            hotplug_test.unplug_memory(vm, target_mem)
+        except QMPCmdError as e:
+            if error_msg not in str(e.data):
+                test.fail("Unexpected error message: %s" % str(e.data))
+            test.log.info(error_msg)
+        else:
+            test.fail(
+                "%s shouldn't have been unplugged! 'size' is greater than 0"
+                % target_mem
+            )
 
-    vm.monitor.qom_set(device_id, "requested-size", 0)
-    time.sleep(10)
-    hotplug_test.unplug_memory(vm, target_mem)
+        vm.monitor.qom_set(device_id, "requested-size", 0)
+        time.sleep(10)
+        hotplug_test.unplug_memory(vm, target_mem)
 
     session.close()