diff --git a/hw/9pfs/9p.h b/hw/9pfs/9p.h
index b7e836251e..5312d8a424 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/9p.h
+++ b/hw/9pfs/9p.h
@@ -119,6 +119,12 @@ static inline char *rpath(FsContext *ctx, const char *path)
 typedef struct V9fsPDU V9fsPDU;
 struct V9fsState;
 
+typedef struct {
+    uint32_t size_le;
+    uint8_t id;
+    uint16_t tag_le;
+} QEMU_PACKED P9MsgHeader;
+
 struct V9fsPDU
 {
     uint32_t size;
diff --git a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-device.c b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-device.c
index 27a4a32f5c..3782f43702 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-device.c
+++ b/hw/9pfs/virtio-9p-device.c
@@ -46,11 +46,7 @@ static void handle_9p_output(VirtIODevice *vdev, VirtQueue *vq)
     VirtQueueElement *elem;
 
     while ((pdu = pdu_alloc(s))) {
-        struct {
-            uint32_t size_le;
-            uint8_t id;
-            uint16_t tag_le;
-        } QEMU_PACKED out;
+        P9MsgHeader out;
 
         elem = virtqueue_pop(vq, sizeof(VirtQueueElement));
         if (!elem) {