diff --git a/include/chardev/spice.h b/include/chardev/spice.h
index 1115502cdfbd..58e5b727e9fe 100644
--- a/include/chardev/spice.h
+++ b/include/chardev/spice.h
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ struct SpiceChardev {
     bool                  blocked;
     const uint8_t         *datapos;
     int                   datalen;
-    QLIST_ENTRY(SpiceChardev) next;
 };
 typedef struct SpiceChardev SpiceChardev;
 
diff --git a/include/ui/qemu-spice.h b/include/ui/qemu-spice.h
index 8c23dfe71797..d34cea2e0fcd 100644
--- a/include/ui/qemu-spice.h
+++ b/include/ui/qemu-spice.h
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ int qemu_spice_migrate_info(const char *hostname, int port, int tls_port,
 #else
 #define SPICE_NEEDS_SET_MM_TIME 0
 #endif
-void qemu_spice_register_ports(void);
 
 #else  /* CONFIG_SPICE */
 
diff --git a/chardev/spice.c b/chardev/spice.c
index 051c23a84f4c..7d1fb1771894 100644
--- a/chardev/spice.c
+++ b/chardev/spice.c
@@ -14,9 +14,6 @@ typedef struct SpiceCharSource {
     SpiceChardev       *scd;
 } SpiceCharSource;
 
-static QLIST_HEAD(, SpiceChardev) spice_chars =
-    QLIST_HEAD_INITIALIZER(spice_chars);
-
 static int vmc_write(SpiceCharDeviceInstance *sin, const uint8_t *buf, int len)
 {
     SpiceChardev *scd = container_of(sin, SpiceChardev, sin);
@@ -216,8 +213,6 @@ static void char_spice_finalize(Object *obj)
 
     vmc_unregister_interface(s);
 
-    QLIST_SAFE_REMOVE(s, next);
-
     g_free((char *)s->sin.subtype);
     g_free((char *)s->sin.portname);
 }
@@ -256,8 +251,6 @@ static void chr_open(Chardev *chr, const char *subtype)
 
     s->active = false;
     s->sin.subtype = g_strdup(subtype);
-
-    QLIST_INSERT_HEAD(&spice_chars, s, next);
 }
 
 static void qemu_chr_open_spice_vmc(Chardev *chr,
@@ -310,28 +303,18 @@ static void qemu_chr_open_spice_port(Chardev *chr,
         return;
     }
 
+    if (!using_spice) {
+        error_setg(errp, "spice not enabled");
+        return;
+    }
+
     chr_open(chr, "port");
 
     *be_opened = false;
     s = SPICE_CHARDEV(chr);
     s->sin.portname = g_strdup(name);
 
-    if (using_spice) {
-        /* spice server already created */
-        vmc_register_interface(s);
-    }
-}
-
-void qemu_spice_register_ports(void)
-{
-    SpiceChardev *s;
-
-    QLIST_FOREACH(s, &spice_chars, next) {
-        if (s->sin.portname == NULL) {
-            continue;
-        }
-        vmc_register_interface(s);
-    }
+    vmc_register_interface(s);
 }
 
 static void qemu_chr_parse_spice_vmc(QemuOpts *opts, ChardevBackend *backend,
diff --git a/softmmu/vl.c b/softmmu/vl.c
index f7b103467c02..bf65bce0fcba 100644
--- a/softmmu/vl.c
+++ b/softmmu/vl.c
@@ -4125,6 +4125,11 @@ void qemu_init(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                       user_creatable_add_opts_foreach,
                       object_create_initial, &error_fatal);
 
+    /* spice needs the timers to be initialized by this point */
+    /* spice must initialize before audio as it changes the default auiodev */
+    /* spice must initialize before chardevs (for spicevmc and spiceport) */
+    qemu_spice_init();
+
     qemu_opts_foreach(qemu_find_opts("chardev"),
                       chardev_init_func, NULL, &error_fatal);
 
@@ -4133,10 +4138,6 @@ void qemu_init(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                       fsdev_init_func, NULL, &error_fatal);
 #endif
 
-    /* spice needs the timers to be initialized by this point */
-    /* spice must initialize before audio as it changes the default auiodev */
-    qemu_spice_init();
-
     /*
      * Note: we need to create audio and block backends before
      * machine_set_property(), so machine properties can refer to
diff --git a/ui/spice-app.c b/ui/spice-app.c
index 3fe9d42e939f..33568709d7a5 100644
--- a/ui/spice-app.c
+++ b/ui/spice-app.c
@@ -129,7 +129,6 @@ static void spice_app_atexit(void)
 static void spice_app_display_early_init(DisplayOptions *opts)
 {
     QemuOpts *qopts;
-    ChardevBackend *be = chr_spice_backend_new();
     GError *err = NULL;
 
     if (opts->has_full_screen) {
@@ -174,6 +173,15 @@ static void spice_app_display_early_init(DisplayOptions *opts)
     qemu_opt_set(qopts, "gl", opts->has_gl ? "on" : "off", &error_abort);
     display_opengl = opts->has_gl;
 #endif
+}
+
+static void spice_app_display_init(DisplayState *ds, DisplayOptions *opts)
+{
+    ChardevBackend *be = chr_spice_backend_new();
+    QemuOpts *qopts;
+    GError *err = NULL;
+    gchar *uri;
+
     be->u.spiceport.data->fqdn = g_strdup("org.qemu.monitor.qmp.0");
     qemu_chardev_new("org.qemu.monitor.qmp", TYPE_CHARDEV_SPICEPORT,
                      be, NULL, &error_abort);
@@ -183,13 +191,6 @@ static void spice_app_display_early_init(DisplayOptions *opts)
     qemu_opt_set(qopts, "mode", "control", &error_abort);
 
     qapi_free_ChardevBackend(be);
-}
-
-static void spice_app_display_init(DisplayState *ds, DisplayOptions *opts)
-{
-    GError *err = NULL;
-    gchar *uri;
-
     uri = g_strjoin("", "spice+unix://", app_dir, "/", "spice.sock", NULL);
     info_report("Launching display with URI: %s", uri);
     g_app_info_launch_default_for_uri(uri, NULL, &err);
diff --git a/ui/spice-core.c b/ui/spice-core.c
index ecc2ec2c55c2..37dd68f2aba2 100644
--- a/ui/spice-core.c
+++ b/ui/spice-core.c
@@ -813,8 +813,6 @@ void qemu_spice_init(void)
     g_free(x509_cert_file);
     g_free(x509_cacert_file);
 
-    qemu_spice_register_ports();
-
 #ifdef HAVE_SPICE_GL
     if (qemu_opt_get_bool(opts, "gl", 0)) {
         if ((port != 0) || (tls_port != 0)) {
