diff --git a/configs/devices/any-softmmu/default.mak b/configs/devices/any-softmmu/default.mak
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dab0ce770e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/configs/devices/any-softmmu/default.mak
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+
+CONFIG_ISA_BUS=y
+CONFIG_PCI=y
+CONFIG_PCI_DEVICES=y
+CONFIG_I2C=y
+CONFIG_TPM=y
+CONFIG_NUBUS=y
+CONFIG_VIRTIO=y
diff --git a/configs/targets/any-softmmu.mak b/configs/targets/any-softmmu.mak
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2c6cf1edd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/configs/targets/any-softmmu.mak
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+
+TARGET_ARCH=any
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index c1dc83e4c0..f6aee8218b 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ qapi_trace_events = []
 bsd_oses = ['gnu/kfreebsd', 'freebsd', 'netbsd', 'openbsd', 'dragonfly', 'darwin']
 supported_oses = ['windows', 'freebsd', 'netbsd', 'openbsd', 'darwin', 'sunos', 'linux']
 supported_cpus = ['ppc', 'ppc64', 's390x', 'riscv32', 'riscv64', 'x86', 'x86_64',
-  'arm', 'aarch64', 'loongarch64', 'mips', 'mips64', 'sparc64']
+  'arm', 'aarch64', 'loongarch64', 'mips', 'mips64', 'sparc64', 'any']
 
 cpu = host_machine.cpu_family()
 
@@ -3043,7 +3043,9 @@ foreach target : target_dirs
     if default_targets
       continue
     endif
-    error('No accelerator available for target @0@'.format(target))
+    if 'any-softmmu' not in target_dirs
+      error('No accelerator available for target @0@'.format(target))
+    endif
   endif
 
   actual_target_dirs += target
diff --git a/qapi/machine.json b/qapi/machine.json
index d816c5c02e..8d3dcd5fb4 100644
--- a/qapi/machine.json
+++ b/qapi/machine.json
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
              'mips64el', 'mipsel', 'nios2', 'or1k', 'ppc',
              'ppc64', 'riscv32', 'riscv64', 'rx', 's390x', 'sh4',
              'sh4eb', 'sparc', 'sparc64', 'tricore',
-             'x86_64', 'xtensa', 'xtensaeb' ] }
+             'x86_64', 'xtensa', 'xtensaeb', 'any' ] }
 
 ##
 # @CpuS390State:
diff --git a/include/sysemu/arch_init.h b/include/sysemu/arch_init.h
index 8850cb1a14..49bee75610 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/arch_init.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/arch_init.h
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 enum {
     QEMU_ARCH_ALL = -1,
+    QEMU_ARCH_ANY = -1,
     QEMU_ARCH_ALPHA = (1 << 0),
     QEMU_ARCH_ARM = (1 << 1),
     QEMU_ARCH_CRIS = (1 << 2),
diff --git a/target/any/cpu-param.h b/target/any/cpu-param.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..42e38ae991
--- /dev/null
+++ b/target/any/cpu-param.h
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later */
+#ifndef ANY_CPU_PARAM_H
+#define ANY_CPU_PARAM_H
+
+#define TARGET_LONG_BITS 64
+
+#define TARGET_PHYS_ADDR_SPACE_BITS 64 /* MAX(targets) */
+#define TARGET_VIRT_ADDR_SPACE_BITS 64 /* MAX(targets) */
+
+#define TARGET_PAGE_BITS_VARY
+#define TARGET_PAGE_BITS_MIN  10 /* MIN(targets)=ARMv5/ARMv6, ignoring AVR */
+
+#endif
diff --git a/target/any/cpu-qom.h b/target/any/cpu-qom.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..18d6a85de9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/target/any/cpu-qom.h
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later */
+#ifndef QEMU_DUMMY_CPU_QOM_H
+#define QEMU_DUMMY_CPU_QOM_H
+
+#include "hw/core/cpu.h"
+#include "qom/object.h"
+
+#define TYPE_DUMMY_CPU "dummy-cpu"
+
+OBJECT_DECLARE_CPU_TYPE(DUMMYCPU, CPUClass, DUMMY_CPU)
+
+#endif
diff --git a/target/any/cpu.h b/target/any/cpu.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e8abb8891f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/target/any/cpu.h
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later */
+#ifndef TARGET_ANY_CPU_H
+#define TARGET_ANY_CPU_H
+
+#include "cpu-qom.h"
+#include "exec/cpu-defs.h"
+
+#define DUMMY_CPU_TYPE_SUFFIX "-" TYPE_DUMMY_CPU
+#define DUMMY_CPU_TYPE_NAME(name) (name DUMMY_CPU_TYPE_SUFFIX)
+#define CPU_RESOLVING_TYPE TYPE_DUMMY_CPU
+
+struct CPUArchState {
+    /* nothing here */
+};
+
+struct ArchCPU {
+    CPUState parent_obj;
+
+    CPUArchState env;
+};
+
+#include "exec/cpu-all.h" /* FIXME remove once exec/ headers cleaned */
+
+#endif
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.d/buildtest.yml b/.gitlab-ci.d/buildtest.yml
index f56df59c94..208625d4d5 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.d/buildtest.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.d/buildtest.yml
@@ -729,3 +729,23 @@ pages:
       - public
   variables:
     QEMU_JOB_PUBLISH: 1
+
+build-system-any:
+  extends:
+    - .native_build_job_template
+  needs:
+    - job: amd64-alpine-container
+  variables:
+    IMAGE: alpine
+    TARGETS: any-softmmu
+    MAKE_CHECK_ARGS: check-qtest
+    CONFIGURE_ARGS:
+      --disable-tools
+      --disable-hvf
+      --disable-kvm
+      --disable-nvmm
+      --disable-tcg
+      --disable-whpx
+      --disable-xen
+      --with-default-devices
+      --enable-qom-cast-debug
diff --git a/hw/any/meson.build b/hw/any/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..60e1567e53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hw/any/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+
+any_ss = ss.source_set()
+
+hw_arch += {'any': any_ss}
diff --git a/hw/meson.build b/hw/meson.build
index 463d702683..644eeee938 100644
--- a/hw/meson.build
+++ b/hw/meson.build
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ subdir('xenpv')
 subdir('fsi')
 
 subdir('alpha')
+subdir('any')
 subdir('arm')
 subdir('avr')
 subdir('cris')
diff --git a/target/Kconfig b/target/Kconfig
index 83da0bd293..09109c4884 100644
--- a/target/Kconfig
+++ b/target/Kconfig
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 source alpha/Kconfig
+source any/Kconfig
 source arm/Kconfig
 source avr/Kconfig
 source cris/Kconfig
diff --git a/target/any/Kconfig b/target/any/Kconfig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8840d70e55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/target/any/Kconfig
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+
+config ANY
+    bool
diff --git a/target/any/meson.build b/target/any/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4f5422d3a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/target/any/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+
+any_ss = ss.source_set()
+any_system_ss = ss.source_set()
+
+target_arch += {'any': any_ss}
+target_system_arch += {'any': any_system_ss}
diff --git a/target/meson.build b/target/meson.build
index dee2ac47e0..c75b91e1b9 100644
--- a/target/meson.build
+++ b/target/meson.build
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 subdir('alpha')
+subdir('any')
 subdir('arm')
 subdir('avr')
 subdir('cris')
