diff --git a/hw/arm/virt.c b/hw/arm/virt.c
index 6e098af..ae90ca5 100644
--- a/hw/arm/virt.c
+++ b/hw/arm/virt.c
@@ -1261,6 +1261,7 @@ static void machvirt_init(MachineState *machine)
 
     for (n = 0; n < smp_cpus; n++) {
         ObjectClass *oc = cpu_class_by_name(TYPE_ARM_CPU, cpustr[0]);
+        const char *typename = object_class_get_name(oc);
         CPUClass *cc = CPU_CLASS(oc);
         Object *cpuobj;
         Error *err = NULL;
@@ -1270,10 +1271,10 @@ static void machvirt_init(MachineState *machine)
             error_report("Unable to find CPU definition");
             exit(1);
         }
-        cpuobj = object_new(object_class_get_name(oc));
+        /* convert -smp CPU options specified by the user into global props */
+        cc->parse_features(typename, cpuopts, &err);
+        cpuobj = object_new(typename);
 
-        /* Handle any CPU options specified by the user */
-        cc->parse_features(CPU(cpuobj), cpuopts, &err);
         g_free(cpuopts);
         if (err) {
             error_report_err(err);
diff --git a/include/qom/cpu.h b/include/qom/cpu.h
index 32f3af3..cacb100 100644
--- a/include/qom/cpu.h
+++ b/include/qom/cpu.h
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ typedef struct CPUClass {
     /*< public >*/
 
     ObjectClass *(*class_by_name)(const char *cpu_model);
-    void (*parse_features)(CPUState *cpu, char *str, Error **errp);
+    void (*parse_features)(const char *typename, char *str, Error **errp);
 
     void (*reset)(CPUState *cpu);
     int reset_dump_flags;
diff --git a/qom/cpu.c b/qom/cpu.c
index 751e992..2a0d9fe 100644
--- a/qom/cpu.c
+++ b/qom/cpu.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include "exec/log.h"
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
 #include "sysemu/sysemu.h"
+#include "hw/qdev-properties.h"
 
 bool cpu_exists(int64_t id)
 {
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ bool cpu_exists(int64_t id)
 CPUState *cpu_generic_init(const char *typename, const char *cpu_model)
 {
     char *str, *name, *featurestr;
-    CPUState *cpu;
+    CPUState *cpu = NULL;
     ObjectClass *oc;
     CPUClass *cc;
     Error *err = NULL;
@@ -60,16 +61,18 @@ CPUState *cpu_generic_init(const char *typename, const char *cpu_model)
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    cpu = CPU(object_new(object_class_get_name(oc)));
-    cc = CPU_GET_CLASS(cpu);
-
+    cc = CPU_CLASS(oc);
     featurestr = strtok(NULL, ",");
-    cc->parse_features(cpu, featurestr, &err);
+    /* TODO: all callers of cpu_generic_init() need to be converted to
+     * call parse_features() only once, before calling cpu_generic_init().
+     */
+    cc->parse_features(object_class_get_name(oc), featurestr, &err);
     g_free(str);
     if (err != NULL) {
         goto out;
     }
 
+    cpu = CPU(object_new(object_class_get_name(oc)));
     object_property_set_bool(OBJECT(cpu), true, "realized", &err);
 
 out:
@@ -282,25 +285,39 @@ static ObjectClass *cpu_common_class_by_name(const char *cpu_model)
     return NULL;
 }
 
-static void cpu_common_parse_features(CPUState *cpu, char *features,
+static void cpu_common_parse_features(const char *typename, char *features,
                                       Error **errp)
 {
     char *featurestr; /* Single "key=value" string being parsed */
     char *val;
-    Error *err = NULL;
+    static bool cpu_globals_initialized;
+
+    /* TODO: all callers of ->parse_features() need to be changed to
+     * call it only once, so we can remove this check (or change it
+     * to assert(!cpu_globals_initialized).
+     * Current callers of ->parse_features() are:
+     * - machvirt_init()
+     * - cpu_generic_init()
+     * - cpu_x86_create()
+     */
+    if (cpu_globals_initialized) {
+        return;
+    }
+    cpu_globals_initialized = true;
 
     featurestr = features ? strtok(features, ",") : NULL;
 
     while (featurestr) {
         val = strchr(featurestr, '=');
         if (val) {
+            GlobalProperty *prop = g_new0(typeof(*prop), 1);
             *val = 0;
             val++;
-            object_property_parse(OBJECT(cpu), val, featurestr, &err);
-            if (err) {
-                error_propagate(errp, err);
-                return;
-            }
+            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.",
                        featurestr);
diff --git a/target-i386/cpu.c b/target-i386/cpu.c
index 0b286e1..16977d5 100644
--- a/target-i386/cpu.c
+++ b/target-i386/cpu.c
@@ -1958,12 +1958,17 @@ static FeatureWordArray minus_features = { 0 };
 
 /* Parse "+feature,-feature,feature=foo" CPU feature string
  */
-static void x86_cpu_parse_featurestr(CPUState *cs, char *features,
+static void x86_cpu_parse_featurestr(const char *typename, char *features,
                                      Error **errp)
 {
-    X86CPU *cpu = X86_CPU(cs);
     char *featurestr; /* Single 'key=value" string being parsed */
     Error *local_err = NULL;
+    static bool cpu_globals_initialized;
+
+    if (cpu_globals_initialized) {
+        return;
+    }
+    cpu_globals_initialized = true;
 
     if (!features) {
         return;
@@ -1976,6 +1981,7 @@ static void x86_cpu_parse_featurestr(CPUState *cs, char *features,
         const char *val = NULL;
         char *eq = NULL;
         char num[32];
+        GlobalProperty *prop;
 
         /* Compatibility syntax: */
         if (featurestr[0] == '+') {
@@ -2013,7 +2019,12 @@ static void x86_cpu_parse_featurestr(CPUState *cs, char *features,
             name = "tsc-frequency";
         }
 
-        object_property_parse(OBJECT(cpu), val, name, &local_err);
+        prop = g_new0(typeof(*prop), 1);
+        prop->driver = typename;
+        prop->property = g_strdup(name);
+        prop->value = g_strdup(val);
+        prop->errp = &error_fatal;
+        qdev_prop_register_global(prop);
     }
 
     if (local_err) {
@@ -2202,9 +2213,11 @@ X86CPU *cpu_x86_create(const char *cpu_model, Error **errp)
 {
     X86CPU *cpu = NULL;
     ObjectClass *oc;
+    CPUClass *cc;
     gchar **model_pieces;
     char *name, *features;
     Error *error = NULL;
+    const char *typename;
 
     model_pieces = g_strsplit(cpu_model, ",", 2);
     if (!model_pieces[0]) {
@@ -2219,10 +2232,11 @@ X86CPU *cpu_x86_create(const char *cpu_model, Error **errp)
         error_setg(&error, "Unable to find CPU definition: %s", name);
         goto out;
     }
+    cc = CPU_CLASS(oc);
+    typename = object_class_get_name(oc);
 
-    cpu = X86_CPU(object_new(object_class_get_name(oc)));
-
-    x86_cpu_parse_featurestr(CPU(cpu), features, &error);
+    cc->parse_features(typename, features, &error);
+    cpu = X86_CPU(object_new(typename));
     if (error) {
         goto out;
     }
