diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/common-config.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/common-config.nix
index 95b1319e981..9fa81ea66aa 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/common-config.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/common-config.nix
@@ -433,7 +433,9 @@ with stdenv.lib;
   PARAVIRT? y
   HYPERVISOR_GUEST y
   PARAVIRT_SPINLOCKS? y
-  KVM_APIC_ARCHITECTURE y
+  ${optionalString (versionOlder version "4.8") ''
+    KVM_APIC_ARCHITECTURE y
+  ''}
   KVM_ASYNC_PF y
   ${optionalString (versionAtLeast version "4.0") ''
     KVM_COMPAT? y