diff --git a/lib/nova_plugins/functions-libvirt b/lib/nova_plugins/functions-libvirt
index 4d617e8b5e..763afaf596 100644
--- a/lib/nova_plugins/functions-libvirt
+++ b/lib/nova_plugins/functions-libvirt
@@ -110,10 +110,18 @@ EOF
         fi
     fi
 
+    # Update the libvirt cpu map with a gate64 cpu model. This enables nova
+    # live migration for 64bit guest OSes on heterogenous cloud "hardware".
+    if [[ -f /usr/share/libvirt/cpu_map.xml ]] ; then
+        sudo $TOP_DIR/tools/cpu_map_update.py /usr/share/libvirt/cpu_map.xml
+    fi
+
     # libvirt detects various settings on startup, as we potentially changed
     # the system configuration (modules, filesystems), we need to restart
-    # libvirt to detect those changes.
-    restart_service $LIBVIRT_DAEMON
+    # libvirt to detect those changes. Use a stop start as otherwise the new
+    # cpu_map is not loaded properly on some systems (Ubuntu).
+    stop_service $LIBVIRT_DAEMON
+    start_service $LIBVIRT_DAEMON
 }
 
 
diff --git a/tools/cpu_map_update.py b/tools/cpu_map_update.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..1938793114
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/cpu_map_update.py
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+# not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+# a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+# WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+# License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+# This small script updates the libvirt CPU map to add a gate64 cpu model
+# that can be used to enable a common 64bit capable feature set across
+# devstack nodes so that features like nova live migration work.
+
+import sys
+import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
+from xml.dom import minidom
+
+
+def update_cpu_map(tree):
+    root = tree.getroot()
+    cpus = root#.find("cpus")
+    x86 = None
+    for arch in cpus.findall("arch"):
+        if arch.get("name") == "x86":
+            x86 = arch
+            break
+    if x86 is not None:
+        # Create a gate64 cpu model that is core2duo less monitor and pse36
+        gate64 = ET.SubElement(x86, "model")
+        gate64.set("name", "gate64")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "vendor").set("name", "Intel")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "fpu")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "de")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "pse")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "tsc")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "msr")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "pae")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "mce")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "cx8")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "apic")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "sep")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "pge")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "cmov")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "pat")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "mmx")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "fxsr")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "sse")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "sse2")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "vme")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "mtrr")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "mca")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "clflush")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "pni")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "nx")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "ssse3")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "syscall")
+        ET.SubElement(gate64, "feature").set("name", "lm")
+
+
+def format_xml(root):
+    # Adapted from http://pymotw.com/2/xml/etree/ElementTree/create.html
+    # thank you dhellmann
+    rough_string = ET.tostring(root, encoding="UTF-8")
+    dom_parsed = minidom.parseString(rough_string)
+    return dom_parsed.toprettyxml("  ", encoding="UTF-8")
+
+
+def main():
+    if len(sys.argv) != 2:
+        raise Exception("Must pass path to cpu_map.xml to update")
+    cpu_map = sys.argv[1]
+    tree = ET.parse(cpu_map)
+    for model in tree.getroot().iter("model"):
+        if model.get("name") == "gate64":
+            # gate64 model is already present
+            return
+    update_cpu_map(tree)
+    pretty_xml = format_xml(tree.getroot())
+    with open(cpu_map, 'w') as f:
+        f.write(pretty_xml)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()