diff --git a/softmmu/vl.c b/softmmu/vl.c
index 0c390b979e..38ad3cc895 100644
--- a/softmmu/vl.c
+++ b/softmmu/vl.c
@@ -133,6 +133,8 @@ static const char *boot_order;
 static const char *boot_once;
 static const char *incoming;
 static const char *loadvm;
+static ram_addr_t maxram_size;
+static uint64_t ram_slots;
 static int display_remote;
 static int snapshot;
 static QemuPluginList plugin_list = QTAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(plugin_list);
@@ -2791,8 +2793,13 @@ static void qemu_create_late_backends(void)
     qemu_semihosting_console_init();
 }
 
-static bool set_memory_options(uint64_t *ram_slots, ram_addr_t *maxram_size,
-                               MachineClass *mc)
+static bool have_custom_ram_size(void)
+{
+    QemuOpts *opts = qemu_find_opts_singleton("memory");
+    return !!qemu_opt_get(opts, "size");
+}
+
+static void set_memory_options(MachineClass *mc)
 {
     uint64_t sz;
     const char *mem_str;
@@ -2842,7 +2849,7 @@ static bool set_memory_options(uint64_t *ram_slots, ram_addr_t *maxram_size,
 
     /* store value for the future use */
     qemu_opt_set_number(opts, "size", ram_size, &error_abort);
-    *maxram_size = ram_size;
+    maxram_size = ram_size;
 
     if (qemu_opt_get(opts, "maxmem")) {
         uint64_t slots;
@@ -2863,15 +2870,58 @@ static bool set_memory_options(uint64_t *ram_slots, ram_addr_t *maxram_size,
             exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
         }
 
-        *maxram_size = sz;
-        *ram_slots = slots;
+        maxram_size = sz;
+        ram_slots = slots;
     } else if (qemu_opt_get(opts, "slots")) {
         error_report("invalid -m option value: missing 'maxmem' option");
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
     loc_pop(&loc);
-    return !!mem_str;
+}
+
+static void qemu_create_machine(MachineClass *machine_class)
+{
+    object_set_machine_compat_props(machine_class->compat_props);
+
+    set_memory_options(machine_class);
+
+    current_machine = MACHINE(object_new_with_class(OBJECT_CLASS(machine_class)));
+    if (machine_help_func(qemu_get_machine_opts(), current_machine)) {
+        exit(0);
+    }
+    object_property_add_child(object_get_root(), "machine",
+                              OBJECT(current_machine));
+    object_property_add_child(container_get(OBJECT(current_machine),
+                                            "/unattached"),
+                              "sysbus", OBJECT(sysbus_get_default()));
+
+    if (machine_class->minimum_page_bits) {
+        if (!set_preferred_target_page_bits(machine_class->minimum_page_bits)) {
+            /* This would be a board error: specifying a minimum smaller than
+             * a target's compile-time fixed setting.
+             */
+            g_assert_not_reached();
+        }
+    }
+
+    cpu_exec_init_all();
+
+    if (machine_class->hw_version) {
+        qemu_set_hw_version(machine_class->hw_version);
+    }
+
+    machine_smp_parse(current_machine,
+        qemu_opts_find(qemu_find_opts("smp-opts"), NULL), &error_fatal);
+
+    /*
+     * Get the default machine options from the machine if it is not already
+     * specified either by the configuration file or by the command line.
+     */
+    if (machine_class->default_machine_opts) {
+        qemu_opts_set_defaults(qemu_find_opts("machine"),
+                               machine_class->default_machine_opts, 0);
+    }
 }
 
 static int global_init_func(void *opaque, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
@@ -3412,10 +3462,7 @@ void qemu_init(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
     const char *optarg;
     MachineClass *machine_class;
     bool userconfig = true;
-    ram_addr_t maxram_size;
-    uint64_t ram_slots = 0;
     FILE *vmstate_dump_file = NULL;
-    bool have_custom_ram_size;
 
     qemu_add_opts(&qemu_drive_opts);
     qemu_add_drive_opts(&qemu_legacy_drive_opts);
@@ -4344,48 +4391,7 @@ void qemu_init(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
 
     configure_rtc(qemu_find_opts_singleton("rtc"));
 
-    machine_class = select_machine();
-    object_set_machine_compat_props(machine_class->compat_props);
-
-    have_custom_ram_size = set_memory_options(&ram_slots, &maxram_size,
-                                              machine_class);
-
-    current_machine = MACHINE(object_new_with_class(OBJECT_CLASS(machine_class)));
-    if (machine_help_func(qemu_get_machine_opts(), current_machine)) {
-        exit(0);
-    }
-    object_property_add_child(object_get_root(), "machine",
-                              OBJECT(current_machine));
-    object_property_add_child(container_get(OBJECT(current_machine),
-                                            "/unattached"),
-                              "sysbus", OBJECT(sysbus_get_default()));
-
-    if (machine_class->minimum_page_bits) {
-        if (!set_preferred_target_page_bits(machine_class->minimum_page_bits)) {
-            /* This would be a board error: specifying a minimum smaller than
-             * a target's compile-time fixed setting.
-             */
-            g_assert_not_reached();
-        }
-    }
-
-    cpu_exec_init_all();
-
-    if (machine_class->hw_version) {
-        qemu_set_hw_version(machine_class->hw_version);
-    }
-
-    machine_smp_parse(current_machine,
-        qemu_opts_find(qemu_find_opts("smp-opts"), NULL), &error_fatal);
-
-    /*
-     * Get the default machine options from the machine if it is not already
-     * specified either by the configuration file or by the command line.
-     */
-    if (machine_class->default_machine_opts) {
-        qemu_opts_set_defaults(qemu_find_opts("machine"),
-                               machine_class->default_machine_opts, 0);
-    }
+    qemu_create_machine(select_machine());
 
     qemu_disable_default_devices();
     qemu_create_default_devices();
@@ -4420,6 +4426,7 @@ void qemu_init(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
      * called from configure_accelerator().
      */
 
+    machine_class = MACHINE_GET_CLASS(current_machine);
     if (!qtest_enabled() && machine_class->deprecation_reason) {
         error_report("Machine type '%s' is deprecated: %s",
                      machine_class->name, machine_class->deprecation_reason);
@@ -4473,7 +4480,7 @@ void qemu_init(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
             exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
         }
         backend_size = object_property_get_uint(backend, "size",  &error_abort);
-        if (have_custom_ram_size && backend_size != ram_size) {
+        if (have_custom_ram_size() && backend_size != ram_size) {
                 error_report("Size specified by -m option must match size of "
                              "explicitly specified 'memory-backend' property");
                 exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
