diff --git a/include/hw/boards.h b/include/hw/boards.h
index 566a5cad13..586f939a57 100644
--- a/include/hw/boards.h
+++ b/include/hw/boards.h
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ void memory_region_allocate_system_memory(MemoryRegion *mr, Object *owner,
 int qemu_register_machine(QEMUMachine *m);
 
 #define TYPE_MACHINE_SUFFIX "-machine"
+
+/* Machine class name that needs to be used for class-name-based machine
+ * type lookup to work.
+ */
+#define MACHINE_TYPE_NAME(machinename) (machinename TYPE_MACHINE_SUFFIX)
+
 #define TYPE_MACHINE "machine"
 #undef MACHINE  /* BSD defines it and QEMU does not use it */
 #define MACHINE(obj) \
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 3c6480dadf..3c6c9b01b2 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -1452,7 +1452,7 @@ static void qemu_machine_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 
 int qemu_register_machine(QEMUMachine *m)
 {
-    char *name = g_strconcat(m->name, TYPE_MACHINE_SUFFIX, NULL);
+    char *name = g_strdup_printf(MACHINE_TYPE_NAME("%s"), m->name);
     TypeInfo ti = {
         .name       = name,
         .parent     = TYPE_MACHINE,