diff --git a/hw/vfio/container.c b/hw/vfio/container.c
index c22bdd3216..688cf23bab 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/container.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/container.c
@@ -381,6 +381,10 @@ static const VFIOIOMMUClass *vfio_get_iommu_class(int iommu_type, Error **errp)
     case VFIO_TYPE1_IOMMU:
         klass = object_class_by_name(TYPE_VFIO_IOMMU_LEGACY);
         break;
+    case VFIO_SPAPR_TCE_v2_IOMMU:
+    case VFIO_SPAPR_TCE_IOMMU:
+        klass = object_class_by_name(TYPE_VFIO_IOMMU_SPAPR);
+        break;
     default:
         g_assert_not_reached();
     };
@@ -623,19 +627,9 @@ static int vfio_connect_container(VFIOGroup *group, AddressSpace *as,
         goto free_container_exit;
     }
 
-    switch (container->iommu_type) {
-    case VFIO_TYPE1v2_IOMMU:
-    case VFIO_TYPE1_IOMMU:
-        ret = vfio_legacy_setup(bcontainer, errp);
-        break;
-    case VFIO_SPAPR_TCE_v2_IOMMU:
-    case VFIO_SPAPR_TCE_IOMMU:
-        ret = vfio_spapr_container_init(container, errp);
-        break;
-    default:
-        g_assert_not_reached();
-    }
+    assert(bcontainer->ops->setup);
 
+    ret = bcontainer->ops->setup(bcontainer, errp);
     if (ret) {
         goto enable_discards_exit;
     }
diff --git a/hw/vfio/spapr.c b/hw/vfio/spapr.c
index 44617dfc6b..0d949bb728 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/spapr.c
@@ -458,20 +458,11 @@ static void vfio_spapr_container_release(VFIOContainerBase *bcontainer)
     }
 }
 
-static VFIOIOMMUOps vfio_iommu_spapr_ops;
-
-static void setup_spapr_ops(VFIOContainerBase *bcontainer)
+static int vfio_spapr_container_setup(VFIOContainerBase *bcontainer,
+                                      Error **errp)
 {
-    vfio_iommu_spapr_ops = *bcontainer->ops;
-    vfio_iommu_spapr_ops.add_window = vfio_spapr_container_add_section_window;
-    vfio_iommu_spapr_ops.del_window = vfio_spapr_container_del_section_window;
-    vfio_iommu_spapr_ops.release = vfio_spapr_container_release;
-    bcontainer->ops = &vfio_iommu_spapr_ops;
-}
-
-int vfio_spapr_container_init(VFIOContainer *container, Error **errp)
-{
-    VFIOContainerBase *bcontainer = &container->bcontainer;
+    VFIOContainer *container = container_of(bcontainer, VFIOContainer,
+                                            bcontainer);
     VFIOSpaprContainer *scontainer = container_of(container, VFIOSpaprContainer,
                                                   container);
     struct vfio_iommu_spapr_tce_info info;
@@ -536,8 +527,6 @@ int vfio_spapr_container_init(VFIOContainer *container, Error **errp)
                           0x1000);
     }
 
-    setup_spapr_ops(bcontainer);
-
     return 0;
 
 listener_unregister_exit:
@@ -546,3 +535,23 @@ listener_unregister_exit:
     }
     return ret;
 }
+
+static void vfio_iommu_spapr_class_init(ObjectClass *klass, void *data)
+{
+    VFIOIOMMUClass *vioc = VFIO_IOMMU_CLASS(klass);
+
+    vioc->add_window = vfio_spapr_container_add_section_window;
+    vioc->del_window = vfio_spapr_container_del_section_window;
+    vioc->release = vfio_spapr_container_release;
+    vioc->setup = vfio_spapr_container_setup;
+};
+
+static const TypeInfo types[] = {
+    {
+        .name = TYPE_VFIO_IOMMU_SPAPR,
+        .parent = TYPE_VFIO_IOMMU_LEGACY,
+        .class_init = vfio_iommu_spapr_class_init,
+    },
+};
+
+DEFINE_TYPES(types)
diff --git a/include/hw/vfio/vfio-container-base.h b/include/hw/vfio/vfio-container-base.h
index ce8b1fba88..9e21d7811f 100644
--- a/include/hw/vfio/vfio-container-base.h
+++ b/include/hw/vfio/vfio-container-base.h
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ void vfio_container_destroy(VFIOContainerBase *bcontainer);
 
 #define TYPE_VFIO_IOMMU "vfio-iommu"
 #define TYPE_VFIO_IOMMU_LEGACY TYPE_VFIO_IOMMU "-legacy"
+#define TYPE_VFIO_IOMMU_SPAPR TYPE_VFIO_IOMMU "-spapr"
 
 /*
  * VFIOContainerBase is not an abstract QOM object because it felt