diff --git a/linux-user/main.c b/linux-user/main.c
index 95b235eaaa8..ca11c948c54 100644
--- a/linux-user/main.c
+++ b/linux-user/main.c
@@ -641,6 +641,23 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
 
     module_call_init(MODULE_INIT_TRACE);
     qemu_init_cpu_list();
+
+    cpu_set_t cpuset;
+    long ncpus;
+    int sched_cpu;
+
+    srand(time(NULL) + getpid());
+
+    ncpus = sysconf(_SC_NPROCESSORS_ONLN);
+    sched_cpu = rand() % ncpus;
+
+    CPU_ZERO(&cpuset);
+    CPU_SET(sched_cpu, &cpuset);
+
+    if (sched_setaffinity(getpid(), sizeof(cpuset), &cpuset)) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Warning: Unable to set CPU affinity\n");
+    }
+
     module_call_init(MODULE_INIT_QOM);
 
     envlist = envlist_create();