diff --git a/hw/core/qdev-properties.c b/hw/core/qdev-properties.c
index fa47f39584..5f9046b84a 100644
--- a/hw/core/qdev-properties.c
+++ b/hw/core/qdev-properties.c
@@ -1238,8 +1238,8 @@ void qdev_prop_set_globals(DeviceState *dev)
         if (err != NULL) {
             error_prepend(&err, "can't apply global %s.%s=%s: ",
                           prop->driver, prop->property, prop->value);
-            if (!dev->hotplugged && prop->errp) {
-                error_propagate(prop->errp, err);
+            if (!dev->hotplugged) {
+                error_propagate(&error_fatal, err);
             } else {
                 warn_report_err(err);
             }
diff --git a/include/hw/qdev-core.h b/include/hw/qdev-core.h
index 86b05baeeb..bc014c1c9f 100644
--- a/include/hw/qdev-core.h
+++ b/include/hw/qdev-core.h
@@ -250,18 +250,14 @@ struct PropertyInfo {
 /**
  * GlobalProperty:
  * @used: Set to true if property was used when initializing a device.
- * @errp: Error destination, used like first argument of error_setg()
- *        in case property setting fails later. If @errp is NULL, we
- *        print warnings instead of ignoring errors silently. For
- *        hotplugged devices, errp is always ignored and warnings are
- *        printed instead.
+ *
+ * An error is fatal for non-hotplugged devices, when the global is applied.
  */
 typedef struct GlobalProperty {
     const char *driver;
     const char *property;
     const char *value;
     bool used;
-    Error **errp;
 } GlobalProperty;
 
 static inline void
diff --git a/qom/cpu.c b/qom/cpu.c
index 9ad1372d57..5442a7323b 100644
--- a/qom/cpu.c
+++ b/qom/cpu.c
@@ -312,7 +312,6 @@ static void cpu_common_parse_features(const char *typename, char *features,
             prop->driver = typename;
             prop->property = g_strdup(featurestr);
             prop->value = g_strdup(val);
-            prop->errp = &error_fatal;
             qdev_prop_register_global(prop);
         } else {
             error_setg(errp, "Expected key=value format, found %s.",
diff --git a/target/i386/cpu.c b/target/i386/cpu.c
index 677a3bd5fb..fa37203d89 100644
--- a/target/i386/cpu.c
+++ b/target/i386/cpu.c
@@ -3568,7 +3568,6 @@ static void x86_cpu_parse_featurestr(const char *typename, char *features,
         prop->driver = typename;
         prop->property = g_strdup(name);
         prop->value = g_strdup(val);
-        prop->errp = &error_fatal;
         qdev_prop_register_global(prop);
     }
 
diff --git a/target/sparc/cpu.c b/target/sparc/cpu.c
index 0f090ece54..4a4445bdf5 100644
--- a/target/sparc/cpu.c
+++ b/target/sparc/cpu.c
@@ -111,7 +111,6 @@ cpu_add_feat_as_prop(const char *typename, const char *name, const char *val)
     prop->driver = typename;
     prop->property = g_strdup(name);
     prop->value = g_strdup(val);
-    prop->errp = &error_fatal;
     qdev_prop_register_global(prop);
 }
 
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 2334d75159..064872cc98 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -2964,7 +2964,6 @@ static int global_init_func(void *opaque, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
     g->driver   = qemu_opt_get(opts, "driver");
     g->property = qemu_opt_get(opts, "property");
     g->value    = qemu_opt_get(opts, "value");
-    g->errp = &error_fatal;
     qdev_prop_register_global(g);
     return 0;
 }