diff --git a/hw/ppce500_mpc8544ds.c b/hw/ppce500_mpc8544ds.c
index 1b8a1c464d..25c14c1e3f 100644
--- a/hw/ppce500_mpc8544ds.c
+++ b/hw/ppce500_mpc8544ds.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include "kvm_ppc.h"
 #include "device_tree.h"
 #include "openpic.h"
+#include "ppc.h"
 #include "ppce500.h"
 #include "loader.h"
 #include "elf.h"
@@ -50,6 +51,12 @@
 #define MPC8544_PCI_IO             0xE1000000
 #define MPC8544_PCI_IOLEN          0x10000
 
+struct boot_info
+{
+    uint32_t dt_base;
+    uint32_t entry;
+};
+
 #ifdef CONFIG_FDT
 static int mpc8544_copy_soc_cell(void *fdt, const char *node, const char *prop)
 {
@@ -82,7 +89,7 @@ static int mpc8544_load_device_tree(target_phys_addr_t addr,
 {
     int ret = -1;
 #ifdef CONFIG_FDT
-    uint32_t mem_reg_property[] = {0, ramsize};
+    uint32_t mem_reg_property[] = {0, cpu_to_be32(ramsize)};
     char *filename;
     int fdt_size;
     void *fdt;
@@ -103,15 +110,19 @@ static int mpc8544_load_device_tree(target_phys_addr_t addr,
     if (ret < 0)
         fprintf(stderr, "couldn't set /memory/reg\n");
 
-    ret = qemu_devtree_setprop_cell(fdt, "/chosen", "linux,initrd-start",
-                                    initrd_base);
-    if (ret < 0)
-        fprintf(stderr, "couldn't set /chosen/linux,initrd-start\n");
+    if (initrd_size) {
+        ret = qemu_devtree_setprop_cell(fdt, "/chosen", "linux,initrd-start",
+                                        initrd_base);
+        if (ret < 0) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "couldn't set /chosen/linux,initrd-start\n");
+        }
 
-    ret = qemu_devtree_setprop_cell(fdt, "/chosen", "linux,initrd-end",
-                                    (initrd_base + initrd_size));
-    if (ret < 0)
-        fprintf(stderr, "couldn't set /chosen/linux,initrd-end\n");
+        ret = qemu_devtree_setprop_cell(fdt, "/chosen", "linux,initrd-end",
+                                        (initrd_base + initrd_size));
+        if (ret < 0) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "couldn't set /chosen/linux,initrd-end\n");
+        }
+    }
 
     ret = qemu_devtree_setprop_string(fdt, "/chosen", "bootargs",
                                       kernel_cmdline);
@@ -145,6 +156,13 @@ static int mpc8544_load_device_tree(target_phys_addr_t addr,
 
         mpc8544_copy_soc_cell(fdt, buf, "clock-frequency");
         mpc8544_copy_soc_cell(fdt, buf, "timebase-frequency");
+    } else {
+        const uint32_t freq = 400000000;
+
+        qemu_devtree_setprop_cell(fdt, "/cpus/PowerPC,8544@0",
+                                  "clock-frequency", freq);
+        qemu_devtree_setprop_cell(fdt, "/cpus/PowerPC,8544@0",
+                                  "timebase-frequency", freq);
     }
 
     ret = rom_add_blob_fixed(BINARY_DEVICE_TREE_FILE, fdt, fdt_size, addr);
@@ -156,6 +174,35 @@ out:
     return ret;
 }
 
+/* Create -kernel TLB entries for BookE, linearly spanning 256MB.  */
+static void mmubooke_create_initial_mapping(CPUState *env,
+                                     target_ulong va,
+                                     target_phys_addr_t pa)
+{
+    ppcemb_tlb_t *tlb = &env->tlb[512].tlbe;
+
+    tlb->attr = 0;
+    tlb->prot = PAGE_VALID | ((PAGE_READ | PAGE_WRITE | PAGE_EXEC) << 4);
+    tlb->size = 256 * 1024 * 1024;
+    tlb->EPN = va & TARGET_PAGE_MASK;
+    tlb->RPN = pa & TARGET_PAGE_MASK;
+    tlb->PID = 0;
+}
+
+static void mpc8544ds_cpu_reset(void *opaque)
+{
+    CPUState *env = opaque;
+    struct boot_info *bi = env->load_info;
+
+    cpu_reset(env);
+
+    /* Set initial guest state. */
+    env->gpr[1] = (16<<20) - 8;
+    env->gpr[3] = bi->dt_base;
+    env->nip = bi->entry;
+    mmubooke_create_initial_mapping(env, 0, 0);
+}
+
 static void mpc8544ds_init(ram_addr_t ram_size,
                          const char *boot_device,
                          const char *kernel_filename,
@@ -176,6 +223,7 @@ static void mpc8544ds_init(ram_addr_t ram_size,
     int i=0;
     unsigned int pci_irq_nrs[4] = {1, 2, 3, 4};
     qemu_irq *irqs, *mpic, *pci_irqs;
+    struct boot_info *boot_info;
 
     /* Setup CPU */
     if (cpu_model == NULL) {
@@ -188,6 +236,13 @@ static void mpc8544ds_init(ram_addr_t ram_size,
         exit(1);
     }
 
+    /* XXX register timer? */
+    ppc_emb_timers_init(env, 400000000, PPC_INTERRUPT_DECR);
+    ppc_dcr_init(env, NULL, NULL);
+
+    /* Register reset handler */
+    qemu_register_reset(mpc8544ds_cpu_reset, env);
+
     /* Fixup Memory size on a alignment boundary */
     ram_size &= ~(RAM_SIZES_ALIGN - 1);
 
@@ -263,8 +318,13 @@ static void mpc8544ds_init(ram_addr_t ram_size,
         }
     }
 
+    boot_info = qemu_mallocz(sizeof(struct boot_info));
+
     /* If we're loading a kernel directly, we must load the device tree too. */
     if (kernel_filename) {
+#ifndef CONFIG_FDT
+        cpu_abort(env, "Compiled without FDT support - can't load kernel\n");
+#endif
         dt_base = (kernel_size + DTC_LOAD_PAD) & ~DTC_PAD_MASK;
         if (mpc8544_load_device_tree(dt_base, ram_size,
                     initrd_base, initrd_size, kernel_cmdline) < 0) {
@@ -272,17 +332,14 @@ static void mpc8544ds_init(ram_addr_t ram_size,
             exit(1);
         }
 
-        /* Set initial guest state. */
-        env->gpr[1] = (16<<20) - 8;
-        env->gpr[3] = dt_base;
-        env->nip = entry;
-        /* XXX we currently depend on KVM to create some initial TLB entries. */
+        boot_info->entry = entry;
+        boot_info->dt_base = dt_base;
     }
+    env->load_info = boot_info;
 
-    if (kvm_enabled())
+    if (kvm_enabled()) {
         kvmppc_init();
-
-    return;
+    }
 }
 
 static QEMUMachine mpc8544ds_machine = {