diff --git a/src/soc/amd/picasso/cpu.c b/src/soc/amd/picasso/cpu.c
index 36bbf0aa60..b2bb82dfbd 100644
--- a/src/soc/amd/picasso/cpu.c
+++ b/src/soc/amd/picasso/cpu.c
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include <amdblocks/cpu.h>
 #include <amdblocks/reset.h>
 #include <amdblocks/smm.h>
+#include <assert.h>
 #include <cpu/cpu.h>
 #include <cpu/x86/mp.h>
 #include <cpu/x86/mtrr.h>
@@ -18,6 +19,9 @@
 #include <console/console.h>
 #include <cpu/amd/microcode.h>
 
+_Static_assert(CONFIG_MAX_CPUS == 8, "Do not override MAX_CPUS. To reduce the number of "
+	"available cores, use the downcore_mode and disable_smt devicetree settings instead.");
+
 /*
  * MP and SMM loading initialization.
  */