diff --git a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
index fbf946531899..b8b3ce340873 100644
--- a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
+++ b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ static void pc_init1(MachineState *machine,
     MemoryRegion *pci_memory;
     MemoryRegion *rom_memory;
     ram_addr_t lowmem;
+    DeviceState *i440fx_host;
 
     /*
      * Calculate ram split, for memory below and above 4G.  It's a bit
@@ -164,9 +165,11 @@ static void pc_init1(MachineState *machine,
         pci_memory = g_new(MemoryRegion, 1);
         memory_region_init(pci_memory, NULL, "pci", UINT64_MAX);
         rom_memory = pci_memory;
+        i440fx_host = qdev_new(host_type);
     } else {
         pci_memory = NULL;
         rom_memory = system_memory;
+        i440fx_host = NULL;
     }
 
     pc_guest_info_init(pcms);
@@ -200,8 +203,8 @@ static void pc_init1(MachineState *machine,
         const char *type = xen_enabled() ? TYPE_PIIX3_XEN_DEVICE
                                          : TYPE_PIIX3_DEVICE;
 
-        pci_bus = i440fx_init(host_type,
-                              pci_type,
+        pci_bus = i440fx_init(pci_type,
+                              i440fx_host,
                               system_memory, system_io, machine->ram_size,
                               x86ms->below_4g_mem_size,
                               x86ms->above_4g_mem_size,
diff --git a/hw/i386/pc_q35.c b/hw/i386/pc_q35.c
index 12cc76aaf81e..f4d23b14695b 100644
--- a/hw/i386/pc_q35.c
+++ b/hw/i386/pc_q35.c
@@ -203,12 +203,12 @@ static void pc_q35_init(MachineState *machine)
                             pcms->smbios_entry_point_type);
     }
 
-    /* allocate ram and load rom/bios */
-    pc_memory_init(pcms, get_system_memory(), rom_memory, &ram_memory);
-
     /* create pci host bus */
     q35_host = Q35_HOST_DEVICE(qdev_new(TYPE_Q35_HOST_DEVICE));
 
+    /* allocate ram and load rom/bios */
+    pc_memory_init(pcms, get_system_memory(), rom_memory, &ram_memory);
+
     object_property_add_child(qdev_get_machine(), "q35", OBJECT(q35_host));
     object_property_set_link(OBJECT(q35_host), MCH_HOST_PROP_RAM_MEM,
                              OBJECT(ram_memory), NULL);
diff --git a/hw/pci-host/i440fx.c b/hw/pci-host/i440fx.c
index 1c5ad5f918a2..d5426ef4a53c 100644
--- a/hw/pci-host/i440fx.c
+++ b/hw/pci-host/i440fx.c
@@ -237,7 +237,8 @@ static void i440fx_realize(PCIDevice *dev, Error **errp)
     }
 }
 
-PCIBus *i440fx_init(const char *host_type, const char *pci_type,
+PCIBus *i440fx_init(const char *pci_type,
+                    DeviceState *dev,
                     MemoryRegion *address_space_mem,
                     MemoryRegion *address_space_io,
                     ram_addr_t ram_size,
@@ -246,7 +247,6 @@ PCIBus *i440fx_init(const char *host_type, const char *pci_type,
                     MemoryRegion *pci_address_space,
                     MemoryRegion *ram_memory)
 {
-    DeviceState *dev;
     PCIBus *b;
     PCIDevice *d;
     PCIHostState *s;
@@ -254,7 +254,6 @@ PCIBus *i440fx_init(const char *host_type, const char *pci_type,
     unsigned i;
     I440FXState *i440fx;
 
-    dev = qdev_new(host_type);
     s = PCI_HOST_BRIDGE(dev);
     b = pci_root_bus_new(dev, NULL, pci_address_space,
                          address_space_io, 0, TYPE_PCI_BUS);
diff --git a/include/hw/pci-host/i440fx.h b/include/hw/pci-host/i440fx.h
index 52518dbf08e6..d02bf1ed6b93 100644
--- a/include/hw/pci-host/i440fx.h
+++ b/include/hw/pci-host/i440fx.h
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ struct PCII440FXState {
 
 #define TYPE_IGD_PASSTHROUGH_I440FX_PCI_DEVICE "igd-passthrough-i440FX"
 
-PCIBus *i440fx_init(const char *host_type, const char *pci_type,
+PCIBus *i440fx_init(const char *pci_type,
+                    DeviceState *dev,
                     MemoryRegion *address_space_mem,
                     MemoryRegion *address_space_io,
                     ram_addr_t ram_size,