diff --git a/bsd-user/main.c b/bsd-user/main.c
index 05aa5594a9..283dc6fd25 100644
--- a/bsd-user/main.c
+++ b/bsd-user/main.c
@@ -723,6 +723,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     const char *filename;
     const char *cpu_model;
+    const char *cpu_type;
     const char *log_file = NULL;
     const char *log_mask = NULL;
     struct target_pt_regs regs1, *regs = &regs1;
@@ -900,7 +901,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     tcg_exec_init(0);
     /* NOTE: we need to init the CPU at this stage to get
        qemu_host_page_size */
-    cpu = cpu_init(cpu_model);
+    cpu_type = parse_cpu_model(cpu_model);
+    cpu = cpu_create(cpu_type);
     env = cpu->env_ptr;
 #if defined(TARGET_SPARC) || defined(TARGET_PPC)
     cpu_reset(cpu);
diff --git a/exec.c b/exec.c
index a9181e6417..bc643fc50f 100644
--- a/exec.c
+++ b/exec.c
@@ -817,6 +817,29 @@ void cpu_exec_realizefn(CPUState *cpu, Error **errp)
 #endif
 }
 
+const char *parse_cpu_model(const char *cpu_model)
+{
+    ObjectClass *oc;
+    CPUClass *cc;
+    gchar **model_pieces;
+    const char *cpu_type;
+
+    model_pieces = g_strsplit(cpu_model, ",", 2);
+
+    oc = cpu_class_by_name(CPU_RESOLVING_TYPE, model_pieces[0]);
+    if (oc == NULL) {
+        error_report("unable to find CPU model '%s'", model_pieces[0]);
+        g_strfreev(model_pieces);
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }
+
+    cpu_type = object_class_get_name(oc);
+    cc = CPU_CLASS(oc);
+    cc->parse_features(cpu_type, model_pieces[1], &error_fatal);
+    g_strfreev(model_pieces);
+    return cpu_type;
+}
+
 #if defined(CONFIG_USER_ONLY)
 static void breakpoint_invalidate(CPUState *cpu, target_ulong pc)
 {
diff --git a/hw/core/null-machine.c b/hw/core/null-machine.c
index 864832db34..cde4d3eb57 100644
--- a/hw/core/null-machine.c
+++ b/hw/core/null-machine.c
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@ static void machine_none_init(MachineState *mch)
 {
     CPUState *cpu = NULL;
 
-    /* Initialize CPU (if a model has been specified) */
-    if (mch->cpu_model) {
-        cpu = cpu_init(mch->cpu_model);
+    /* Initialize CPU (if user asked for it) */
+    if (mch->cpu_type) {
+        cpu = cpu_create(mch->cpu_type);
         if (!cpu) {
             error_report("Unable to initialize CPU");
             exit(1);
diff --git a/include/hw/boards.h b/include/hw/boards.h
index 8ce9a7a21d..a609239112 100644
--- a/include/hw/boards.h
+++ b/include/hw/boards.h
@@ -252,7 +252,6 @@ struct MachineState {
     char *kernel_filename;
     char *kernel_cmdline;
     char *initrd_filename;
-    const char *cpu_model;
     const char *cpu_type;
     AccelState *accelerator;
     CPUArchIdList *possible_cpus;
diff --git a/include/qom/cpu.h b/include/qom/cpu.h
index dc6d4956a8..14e45c4282 100644
--- a/include/qom/cpu.h
+++ b/include/qom/cpu.h
@@ -662,8 +662,7 @@ ObjectClass *cpu_class_by_name(const char *typename, const char *cpu_model);
 CPUState *cpu_create(const char *typename);
 
 /**
- * cpu_parse_cpu_model:
- * @typename: The CPU base type or CPU type.
+ * parse_cpu_model:
  * @cpu_model: The model string including optional parameters.
  *
  * processes optional parameters and registers them as global properties
@@ -671,18 +670,7 @@ CPUState *cpu_create(const char *typename);
  * Returns: type of CPU to create or prints error and terminates process
  *          if an error occurred.
  */
-const char *cpu_parse_cpu_model(const char *typename, const char *cpu_model);
-
-/**
- * cpu_generic_init:
- * @typename: The CPU base type.
- * @cpu_model: The model string including optional parameters.
- *
- * Instantiates a CPU, processes optional parameters and realizes the CPU.
- *
- * Returns: A #CPUState or %NULL if an error occurred.
- */
-CPUState *cpu_generic_init(const char *typename, const char *cpu_model);
+const char *parse_cpu_model(const char *cpu_model);
 
 /**
  * cpu_has_work:
diff --git a/linux-user/main.c b/linux-user/main.c
index 108e1f202c..ba09b7d0c8 100644
--- a/linux-user/main.c
+++ b/linux-user/main.c
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ static const char *argv0;
 static int gdbstub_port;
 static envlist_t *envlist;
 static const char *cpu_model;
+static const char *cpu_type;
 unsigned long mmap_min_addr;
 unsigned long guest_base;
 int have_guest_base;
@@ -4114,7 +4115,7 @@ void init_task_state(TaskState *ts)
 CPUArchState *cpu_copy(CPUArchState *env)
 {
     CPUState *cpu = ENV_GET_CPU(env);
-    CPUState *new_cpu = cpu_init(cpu_model);
+    CPUState *new_cpu = cpu_create(cpu_type);
     CPUArchState *new_env = new_cpu->env_ptr;
     CPUBreakpoint *bp;
     CPUWatchpoint *wp;
@@ -4597,10 +4598,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
     if (cpu_model == NULL) {
         cpu_model = cpu_get_model(get_elf_eflags(execfd));
     }
+    cpu_type = parse_cpu_model(cpu_model);
+
     tcg_exec_init(0);
     /* NOTE: we need to init the CPU at this stage to get
        qemu_host_page_size */
-    cpu = cpu_init(cpu_model);
+
+    cpu = cpu_create(cpu_type);
     env = cpu->env_ptr;
     cpu_reset(cpu);
 
diff --git a/qom/cpu.c b/qom/cpu.c
index e42d9a7f9e..60292dfde9 100644
--- a/qom/cpu.c
+++ b/qom/cpu.c
@@ -67,37 +67,6 @@ CPUState *cpu_create(const char *typename)
     return cpu;
 }
 
-const char *cpu_parse_cpu_model(const char *typename, const char *cpu_model)
-{
-    ObjectClass *oc;
-    CPUClass *cc;
-    gchar **model_pieces;
-    const char *cpu_type;
-
-    model_pieces = g_strsplit(cpu_model, ",", 2);
-
-    oc = cpu_class_by_name(typename, model_pieces[0]);
-    if (oc == NULL) {
-        error_report("unable to find CPU model '%s'", model_pieces[0]);
-        g_strfreev(model_pieces);
-        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-    }
-
-    cpu_type = object_class_get_name(oc);
-    cc = CPU_CLASS(oc);
-    cc->parse_features(cpu_type, model_pieces[1], &error_fatal);
-    g_strfreev(model_pieces);
-    return cpu_type;
-}
-
-CPUState *cpu_generic_init(const char *typename, const char *cpu_model)
-{
-    /* TODO: all callers of cpu_generic_init() need to be converted to
-     * call cpu_parse_features() only once, before calling cpu_generic_init().
-     */
-    return cpu_create(cpu_parse_cpu_model(typename, cpu_model));
-}
-
 bool cpu_paging_enabled(const CPUState *cpu)
 {
     CPUClass *cc = CPU_GET_CLASS(cpu);
@@ -335,23 +304,15 @@ static ObjectClass *cpu_common_class_by_name(const char *cpu_model)
 static void cpu_common_parse_features(const char *typename, char *features,
                                       Error **errp)
 {
-    char *featurestr; /* Single "key=value" string being parsed */
     char *val;
     static bool cpu_globals_initialized;
+    /* Single "key=value" string being parsed */
+    char *featurestr = features ? strtok(features, ",") : NULL;
 
-    /* TODO: all callers of ->parse_features() need to be changed to
-     * call it only once, so we can remove this check (or change it
-     * to assert(!cpu_globals_initialized).
-     * Current callers of ->parse_features() are:
-     * - cpu_generic_init()
-     */
-    if (cpu_globals_initialized) {
-        return;
-    }
+    /* should be called only once, catch invalid users */
+    assert(!cpu_globals_initialized);
     cpu_globals_initialized = true;
 
-    featurestr = features ? strtok(features, ",") : NULL;
-
     while (featurestr) {
         val = strchr(featurestr, '=');
         if (val) {
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 19340a324a..a31bd1a98a 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -4584,15 +4584,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
     current_machine->maxram_size = maxram_size;
     current_machine->ram_slots = ram_slots;
     current_machine->boot_order = boot_order;
-    current_machine->cpu_model = cpu_model;
 
     /* parse features once if machine provides default cpu_type */
-    if (machine_class->default_cpu_type) {
-        current_machine->cpu_type = machine_class->default_cpu_type;
-        if (cpu_model) {
-            current_machine->cpu_type =
-                cpu_parse_cpu_model(machine_class->default_cpu_type, cpu_model);
-        }
+    current_machine->cpu_type = machine_class->default_cpu_type;
+    if (cpu_model) {
+        current_machine->cpu_type = parse_cpu_model(cpu_model);
     }
     parse_numa_opts(current_machine);