diff --git a/hw/sparc/leon3.c b/hw/sparc/leon3.c
index d40b7891f6..1c50b02f81 100644
--- a/hw/sparc/leon3.c
+++ b/hw/sparc/leon3.c
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ static void leon3_set_pil_in(void *opaque, int n, int level)
 static void leon3_generic_hw_init(MachineState *machine)
 {
     ram_addr_t ram_size = machine->ram_size;
+    const char *bios_name = machine->firmware ?: LEON3_PROM_FILENAME;
     const char *kernel_filename = machine->kernel_filename;
     SPARCCPU *cpu;
     CPUSPARCState   *env;
@@ -259,9 +260,6 @@ static void leon3_generic_hw_init(MachineState *machine)
     memory_region_add_subregion(address_space_mem, LEON3_PROM_OFFSET, prom);
 
     /* Load boot prom */
-    if (bios_name == NULL) {
-        bios_name = LEON3_PROM_FILENAME;
-    }
     filename = qemu_find_file(QEMU_FILE_TYPE_BIOS, bios_name);
 
     if (filename) {
diff --git a/hw/sparc/sun4m.c b/hw/sparc/sun4m.c
index 66fecb152a..0f9cd2bf52 100644
--- a/hw/sparc/sun4m.c
+++ b/hw/sparc/sun4m.c
@@ -882,7 +882,7 @@ static void sun4m_hw_init(const struct sun4m_hwdef *hwdef,
                         hwdef->max_mem - machine->ram_size);
     }
 
-    prom_init(hwdef->slavio_base, bios_name);
+    prom_init(hwdef->slavio_base, machine->firmware);
 
     slavio_intctl = slavio_intctl_init(hwdef->intctl_base,
                                        hwdef->intctl_base + 0x10000ULL,
diff --git a/hw/sparc64/sun4u.c b/hw/sparc64/sun4u.c
index 2f8fc670cf..22896b4c62 100644
--- a/hw/sparc64/sun4u.c
+++ b/hw/sparc64/sun4u.c
@@ -578,7 +578,7 @@ static void sun4uv_init(MemoryRegion *address_space_mem,
     /* set up devices */
     ram_init(0, machine->ram_size);
 
-    prom_init(hwdef->prom_addr, bios_name);
+    prom_init(hwdef->prom_addr, machine->firmware);
 
     /* Init sabre (PCI host bridge) */
     sabre = SABRE(qdev_new(TYPE_SABRE));