diff --git a/nova/compute/resource_tracker.py b/nova/compute/resource_tracker.py
index 70d5038ae8..22d29bccac 100644
--- a/nova/compute/resource_tracker.py
+++ b/nova/compute/resource_tracker.py
@@ -322,6 +322,13 @@ class ResourceTracker(object):
             return
         resources['host_ip'] = CONF.my_ip
 
+        # We want the 'cpu_info' to be None from the POV of the
+        # virt driver, but the DB requires it to be non-null so
+        # just force it to empty string
+        if ("cpu_info" not in resources or
+            resources["cpu_info"] is None):
+            resources["cpu_info"] = ''
+
         # TODO(berrange): remove this once all virt drivers are updated
         # to report topology
         if "numa_topology" not in resources:
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/virt/vmwareapi/test_driver_api.py b/nova/tests/unit/virt/vmwareapi/test_driver_api.py
index ea5f413cd2..f170f780f5 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/virt/vmwareapi/test_driver_api.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/virt/vmwareapi/test_driver_api.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ from eventlet import greenthread
 import mock
 from mox3 import mox
 from oslo.config import cfg
-from oslo.serialization import jsonutils
 from oslo.utils import timeutils
 from oslo.utils import units
 from oslo.vmware import exceptions as vexc
@@ -2175,10 +2174,6 @@ class VMwareAPIVMTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
 
     def test_get_available_resource(self):
         stats = self.conn.get_available_resource(self.node_name)
-        cpu_info = {"model": ["Intel(R) Xeon(R)", "Intel(R) Xeon(R)"],
-                    "vendor": ["Intel", "Intel"],
-                    "topology": {"cores": 16,
-                                 "threads": 32}}
         self.assertEqual(stats['vcpus'], 32)
         self.assertEqual(stats['local_gb'], 1024)
         self.assertEqual(stats['local_gb_used'], 1024 - 500)
@@ -2187,7 +2182,7 @@ class VMwareAPIVMTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(stats['hypervisor_type'], 'VMware vCenter Server')
         self.assertEqual(stats['hypervisor_version'], 5001000)
         self.assertEqual(stats['hypervisor_hostname'], self.node_name)
-        self.assertEqual(stats['cpu_info'], jsonutils.dumps(cpu_info))
+        self.assertIsNone(stats['cpu_info'])
         self.assertEqual(stats['supported_instances'],
                 '[["i686", "vmware", "hvm"], ["x86_64", "vmware", "hvm"]]')
 
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/virt/vmwareapi/test_vm_util.py b/nova/tests/unit/virt/vmwareapi/test_vm_util.py
index 82328ee133..0da9d83aed 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/virt/vmwareapi/test_vm_util.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/virt/vmwareapi/test_vm_util.py
@@ -100,22 +100,14 @@ class VMwareVMUtilTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
         session = fake.FakeSession()
         with mock.patch.object(session, '_call_method', fake_call_method):
             result = vm_util.get_stats_from_cluster(session, "cluster1")
-            cpu_info = {}
             mem_info = {}
             if connection_state == "connected" and not maintenance_mode:
-                cpu_info['vcpus'] = 32
-                cpu_info['cores'] = 16
-                cpu_info['vendor'] = ["Intel", "Intel"]
-                cpu_info['model'] = ["Intel(R) Xeon(R)",
-                                     "Intel(R) Xeon(R)"]
+                vcpus = 32
             else:
-                cpu_info['vcpus'] = 16
-                cpu_info['cores'] = 8
-                cpu_info['vendor'] = ["Intel"]
-                cpu_info['model'] = ["Intel(R) Xeon(R)"]
+                vcpus = 16
             mem_info['total'] = 5120
             mem_info['free'] = 3072
-            expected_stats = {'cpu': cpu_info, 'mem': mem_info}
+            expected_stats = {'vcpus': vcpus, 'mem': mem_info}
             self.assertEqual(expected_stats, result)
 
     def test_get_stats_from_cluster_hosts_connected_and_active(self):
diff --git a/nova/virt/vmwareapi/driver.py b/nova/virt/vmwareapi/driver.py
index 7bf2899de9..157933e6b9 100644
--- a/nova/virt/vmwareapi/driver.py
+++ b/nova/virt/vmwareapi/driver.py
@@ -428,7 +428,11 @@ class VMwareVCDriver(driver.ComputeDriver):
                'hypervisor_type': host_stats['hypervisor_type'],
                'hypervisor_version': host_stats['hypervisor_version'],
                'hypervisor_hostname': host_stats['hypervisor_hostname'],
-               'cpu_info': jsonutils.dumps(host_stats['cpu_info']),
+                # The VMWare driver manages multiple hosts, so there are
+                # likely many different CPU models in use. As such it is
+                # impossible to provide any meaningful info on the CPU
+                # model of the "host"
+               'cpu_info': None,
                'supported_instances': jsonutils.dumps(
                    host_stats['supported_instances']),
                'numa_topology': None,
diff --git a/nova/virt/vmwareapi/host.py b/nova/virt/vmwareapi/host.py
index 5778e90f5a..fe1570ac25 100644
--- a/nova/virt/vmwareapi/host.py
+++ b/nova/virt/vmwareapi/host.py
@@ -69,11 +69,7 @@ class VCState(object):
         stats = vm_util.get_stats_from_cluster(self._session, self._cluster)
         about_info = self._session._call_method(vim_util, "get_about_info")
         data = {}
-        data["vcpus"] = stats['cpu']['vcpus']
-        data["cpu_info"] = {"vendor": stats['cpu']['vendor'],
-                            "model": stats['cpu']['model'],
-                            "topology": {"cores": stats['cpu']['cores'],
-                                         "threads": stats['cpu']['vcpus']}}
+        data["vcpus"] = stats['vcpus']
         data["disk_total"] = capacity / units.Gi
         data["disk_available"] = freespace / units.Gi
         data["disk_used"] = data["disk_total"] - data["disk_available"]
diff --git a/nova/virt/vmwareapi/vm_util.py b/nova/virt/vmwareapi/vm_util.py
index 2152de8f9d..c99dcd3ecd 100644
--- a/nova/virt/vmwareapi/vm_util.py
+++ b/nova/virt/vmwareapi/vm_util.py
@@ -964,7 +964,7 @@ def get_vm_state_from_name(session, vm_name):
 
 def get_stats_from_cluster(session, cluster):
     """Get the aggregate resource stats of a cluster."""
-    cpu_info = {'vcpus': 0, 'cores': 0, 'vendor': [], 'model': []}
+    vcpus = 0
     mem_info = {'total': 0, 'free': 0}
     # Get the Host and Resource Pool Managed Object Refs
     prop_dict = session._call_method(vim_util, "get_dynamic_properties",
@@ -985,10 +985,7 @@ def get_stats_from_cluster(session, cluster):
                     runtime_summary.connectionState == "connected"):
                     # Total vcpus is the sum of all pCPUs of individual hosts
                     # The overcommitment ratio is factored in by the scheduler
-                    cpu_info['vcpus'] += hardware_summary.numCpuThreads
-                    cpu_info['cores'] += hardware_summary.numCpuCores
-                    cpu_info['vendor'].append(hardware_summary.vendor)
-                    cpu_info['model'].append(hardware_summary.cpuModel)
+                    vcpus += hardware_summary.numCpuThreads
 
         res_mor = prop_dict.get('resourcePool')
         if res_mor:
@@ -1000,7 +997,7 @@ def get_stats_from_cluster(session, cluster):
                 # overallUsage is the hypervisor's view of memory usage by VM's
                 consumed = int(res_usage.overallUsage / units.Mi)
                 mem_info['free'] = mem_info['total'] - consumed
-    stats = {'cpu': cpu_info, 'mem': mem_info}
+    stats = {'vcpus': vcpus, 'mem': mem_info}
     return stats