diff --git a/hw/s390x/s390-virtio-ccw.c b/hw/s390x/s390-virtio-ccw.c
index 0caf20b719..fafbc6d4fe 100644
--- a/hw/s390x/s390-virtio-ccw.c
+++ b/hw/s390x/s390-virtio-ccw.c
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ S390CPU *s390_cpu_addr2state(uint16_t cpu_addr)
 static void s390_init_cpus(MachineState *machine)
 {
     MachineClass *mc = MACHINE_GET_CLASS(machine);
+    const char *typename;
+    gchar **model_pieces;
+    ObjectClass *oc;
+    CPUClass *cc;
     int i;
 
     if (machine->cpu_model == NULL) {
@@ -69,8 +73,25 @@ static void s390_init_cpus(MachineState *machine)
     /* initialize possible_cpus */
     mc->possible_cpu_arch_ids(machine);
 
+    model_pieces = g_strsplit(machine->cpu_model, ",", 2);
+    if (!model_pieces[0]) {
+        error_report("Invalid/empty CPU model name");
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
+    oc = cpu_class_by_name(TYPE_S390_CPU, model_pieces[0]);
+    if (!oc) {
+        error_report("Unable to find CPU definition: %s", model_pieces[0]);
+        exit(1);
+    }
+    typename = object_class_get_name(oc);
+    cc = CPU_CLASS(oc);
+    /* after parsing, properties will be applied to all *typename* instances */
+    cc->parse_features(typename, model_pieces[1], &error_fatal);
+    g_strfreev(model_pieces);
+
     for (i = 0; i < smp_cpus; i++) {
-        s390x_new_cpu(machine->cpu_model, i, &error_fatal);
+        s390x_new_cpu(typename, i, &error_fatal);
     }
 }
 
@@ -382,8 +403,12 @@ static HotplugHandler *s390_get_hotplug_handler(MachineState *machine,
 static void s390_hot_add_cpu(const int64_t id, Error **errp)
 {
     MachineState *machine = MACHINE(qdev_get_machine());
+    ObjectClass *oc;
+
+    g_assert(machine->possible_cpus->cpus[0].cpu);
+    oc = OBJECT_CLASS(CPU_GET_CLASS(machine->possible_cpus->cpus[0].cpu));
 
-    s390x_new_cpu(machine->cpu_model, id, errp);
+    s390x_new_cpu(object_class_get_name(oc), id, errp);
 }
 
 static void s390_nmi(NMIState *n, int cpu_index, Error **errp)
diff --git a/target/s390x/cpu.h b/target/s390x/cpu.h
index 1c8456fa57..9b549dc491 100644
--- a/target/s390x/cpu.h
+++ b/target/s390x/cpu.h
@@ -689,7 +689,7 @@ const char *s390_default_cpu_model_name(void);
 
 /* helper.c */
 #define cpu_init(cpu_model) cpu_generic_init(TYPE_S390_CPU, cpu_model)
-S390CPU *s390x_new_cpu(const char *cpu_model, uint32_t core_id, Error **errp);
+S390CPU *s390x_new_cpu(const char *typename, uint32_t core_id, Error **errp);
 /* you can call this signal handler from your SIGBUS and SIGSEGV
    signal handlers to inform the virtual CPU of exceptions. non zero
    is returned if the signal was handled by the virtual CPU.  */
diff --git a/target/s390x/helper.c b/target/s390x/helper.c
index dfb24ef5b2..97adbcc86d 100644
--- a/target/s390x/helper.c
+++ b/target/s390x/helper.c
@@ -68,52 +68,11 @@ void s390x_cpu_timer(void *opaque)
 }
 #endif
 
-S390CPU *cpu_s390x_create(const char *cpu_model, Error **errp)
+S390CPU *s390x_new_cpu(const char *typename, uint32_t core_id, Error **errp)
 {
-    static bool features_parsed;
-    char *name, *features;
-    const char *typename;
-    ObjectClass *oc;
-    CPUClass *cc;
-
-    name = g_strdup(cpu_model);
-    features = strchr(name, ',');
-    if (features) {
-        features[0] = 0;
-        features++;
-    }
-
-    oc = cpu_class_by_name(TYPE_S390_CPU, name);
-    if (!oc) {
-        error_setg(errp, "Unknown CPU definition \'%s\'", name);
-        g_free(name);
-        return NULL;
-    }
-    typename = object_class_get_name(oc);
-
-    if (!features_parsed) {
-        features_parsed = true;
-        cc = CPU_CLASS(oc);
-        cc->parse_features(typename, features, errp);
-    }
-    g_free(name);
-
-    if (*errp) {
-        return NULL;
-    }
-    return S390_CPU(CPU(object_new(typename)));
-}
-
-S390CPU *s390x_new_cpu(const char *cpu_model, uint32_t core_id, Error **errp)
-{
-    S390CPU *cpu;
+    S390CPU *cpu = S390_CPU(object_new(typename));
     Error *err = NULL;
 
-    cpu = cpu_s390x_create(cpu_model, &err);
-    if (err != NULL) {
-        goto out;
-    }
-
     object_property_set_int(OBJECT(cpu), core_id, "core-id", &err);
     if (err != NULL) {
         goto out;
diff --git a/target/s390x/internal.h b/target/s390x/internal.h
index b4d3583b24..bc8f83129a 100644
--- a/target/s390x/internal.h
+++ b/target/s390x/internal.h
@@ -337,7 +337,6 @@ uint64_t get_psw_mask(CPUS390XState *env);
 void s390_cpu_recompute_watchpoints(CPUState *cs);
 void s390x_tod_timer(void *opaque);
 void s390x_cpu_timer(void *opaque);
-S390CPU *cpu_s390x_create(const char *cpu_model, Error **errp);
 void do_restart_interrupt(CPUS390XState *env);
 #ifndef CONFIG_USER_ONLY
 LowCore *cpu_map_lowcore(CPUS390XState *env);
