diff --git a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
index 31612caf10..1c925309e3 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ extern const char *keyboard_layout;
 extern int win2k_install_hack;
 extern int alt_grab;
 extern int ctrl_grab;
+extern int no_frame;
 extern int smp_cpus;
 extern unsigned int max_cpus;
 extern int cursor_hide;
diff --git a/include/ui/console.h b/include/ui/console.h
index 580dfc57ee..7b35778444 100644
--- a/include/ui/console.h
+++ b/include/ui/console.h
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ void surface_gl_setup_viewport(QemuGLShader *gls,
 /* sdl.c */
 #ifdef CONFIG_SDL
 void sdl_display_early_init(int opengl);
-void sdl_display_init(DisplayState *ds, int full_screen, int no_frame);
+void sdl_display_init(DisplayState *ds, int full_screen);
 #else
 static inline void sdl_display_early_init(int opengl)
 {
@@ -444,8 +444,7 @@ static inline void sdl_display_early_init(int opengl)
     error_report("SDL support is disabled");
     abort();
 }
-static inline void sdl_display_init(DisplayState *ds, int full_screen,
-                                    int no_frame)
+static inline void sdl_display_init(DisplayState *ds, int full_screen)
 {
     /* This must never be called if CONFIG_SDL is disabled */
     error_report("SDL support is disabled");
diff --git a/ui/sdl.c b/ui/sdl.c
index 0017b4a912..c8f102bb9f 100644
--- a/ui/sdl.c
+++ b/ui/sdl.c
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ static int gui_saved_width;
 static int gui_saved_height;
 static int gui_saved_grab;
 static int gui_fullscreen;
-static int gui_noframe;
 static int gui_key_modifier_pressed;
 static int gui_keysym;
 static int gui_grab_code = KMOD_LALT | KMOD_LCTRL;
@@ -118,8 +117,9 @@ static void do_sdl_resize(int width, int height, int bpp)
     } else {
         flags |= SDL_RESIZABLE;
     }
-    if (gui_noframe)
+    if (no_frame) {
         flags |= SDL_NOFRAME;
+    }
 
     tmp_screen = SDL_SetVideoMode(width, height, bpp, flags);
     if (!real_screen) {
@@ -895,7 +895,7 @@ void sdl_display_early_init(int opengl)
     }
 }
 
-void sdl_display_init(DisplayState *ds, int full_screen, int no_frame)
+void sdl_display_init(DisplayState *ds, int full_screen)
 {
     int flags;
     uint8_t data = 0;
@@ -917,9 +917,6 @@ void sdl_display_init(DisplayState *ds, int full_screen, int no_frame)
     g_printerr("Running QEMU with SDL 1.2 is deprecated, and will be removed\n"
                "in a future release. Please switch to SDL 2.0 instead\n");
 
-    if (no_frame)
-        gui_noframe = 1;
-
     if (!full_screen) {
         setenv("SDL_VIDEO_ALLOW_SCREENSAVER", "1", 0);
     }
diff --git a/ui/sdl2.c b/ui/sdl2.c
index 1db5dd6f5f..812c315891 100644
--- a/ui/sdl2.c
+++ b/ui/sdl2.c
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ static int gui_grab; /* if true, all keyboard/mouse events are grabbed */
 
 static int gui_saved_grab;
 static int gui_fullscreen;
-static int gui_noframe;
 static int gui_key_modifier_pressed;
 static int gui_keysym;
 static int gui_grab_code = KMOD_LALT | KMOD_LCTRL;
@@ -767,7 +766,7 @@ void sdl_display_early_init(int opengl)
     }
 }
 
-void sdl_display_init(DisplayState *ds, int full_screen, int no_frame)
+void sdl_display_init(DisplayState *ds, int full_screen)
 {
     int flags;
     uint8_t data = 0;
@@ -775,10 +774,6 @@ void sdl_display_init(DisplayState *ds, int full_screen, int no_frame)
     int i;
     SDL_SysWMinfo info;
 
-    if (no_frame) {
-        gui_noframe = 1;
-    }
-
 #ifdef __linux__
     /* on Linux, SDL may use fbcon|directfb|svgalib when run without
      * accessible $DISPLAY to open X11 window.  This is often the case
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index e725ecbc08..6ab232095c 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ static int rtc_date_offset = -1; /* -1 means no change */
 QEMUClockType rtc_clock;
 int vga_interface_type = VGA_NONE;
 static int full_screen = 0;
-static int no_frame = 0;
+int no_frame;
 int no_quit = 0;
 static bool grab_on_hover;
 Chardev *serial_hds[MAX_SERIAL_PORTS];
@@ -4694,7 +4694,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
         curses_display_init(ds, full_screen);
         break;
     case DT_SDL:
-        sdl_display_init(ds, full_screen, no_frame);
+        sdl_display_init(ds, full_screen);
         break;
     case DT_COCOA:
         cocoa_display_init(ds, full_screen);