diff --git a/hw/char/sh_serial.c b/hw/char/sh_serial.c
index bc5e0c4404..5ee93dc732 100644
--- a/hw/char/sh_serial.c
+++ b/hw/char/sh_serial.c
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ typedef struct {
     int rtrg;
 
     CharBackend chr;
-    QEMUTimer *fifo_timeout_timer;
+    QEMUTimer fifo_timeout_timer;
     uint64_t etu; /* Elementary Time Unit (ns) */
 
     qemu_irq eri;
@@ -353,11 +353,11 @@ static void sh_serial_receive1(void *opaque, const uint8_t *buf, int size)
                 if (s->rx_cnt >= s->rtrg) {
                     s->flags |= SH_SERIAL_FLAG_RDF;
                     if (s->scr & (1 << 6) && s->rxi) {
-                        timer_del(s->fifo_timeout_timer);
+                        timer_del(&s->fifo_timeout_timer);
                         qemu_set_irq(s->rxi, 1);
                     }
                 } else {
-                    timer_mod(s->fifo_timeout_timer,
+                    timer_mod(&s->fifo_timeout_timer,
                         qemu_clock_get_ns(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL) + 15 * s->etu);
                 }
             }
@@ -427,8 +427,8 @@ void sh_serial_init(MemoryRegion *sysmem,
                                  sh_serial_event, NULL, s, NULL, true);
     }
 
-    s->fifo_timeout_timer = timer_new_ns(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL,
-                                         sh_serial_timeout_int, s);
+    timer_init_ns(&s->fifo_timeout_timer, QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL,
+                  sh_serial_timeout_int, s);
     s->etu = NANOSECONDS_PER_SECOND / 9600;
     s->eri = eri_source;
     s->rxi = rxi_source;