diff --git a/src/arch/x86/utility.cc b/src/arch/x86/utility.cc
--- a/src/arch/x86/utility.cc
+++ b/src/arch/x86/utility.cc
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 #include "arch/x86/utility.hh"
 #include "arch/x86/x86_traits.hh"
 #include "cpu/base.hh"
+#include "params/BaseCPU.hh"
 #include "sim/system.hh"
 
 namespace X86ISA {
@@ -57,6 +58,9 @@
 
 void initCPU(ThreadContext *tc, int cpuId)
 {
+    if (tc->getCpuPtr()->params()->defer_registration)
+        return;
+
     // This function is essentially performing a reset. The actual INIT
     // interrupt does a subset of this, so we'll piggyback on some of its
     // functionality.