diff --git a/include/hw/qdev-core.h b/include/hw/qdev-core.h
index 92851e55df..84e612f473 100644
--- a/include/hw/qdev-core.h
+++ b/include/hw/qdev-core.h
@@ -267,6 +267,16 @@ typedef struct GlobalProperty {
     Error **errp;
 } GlobalProperty;
 
+static inline void
+compat_props_add(GPtrArray *arr,
+                 GlobalProperty props[], size_t nelem)
+{
+    int i;
+    for (i = 0; i < nelem; i++) {
+        g_ptr_array_add(arr, (void *)&props[i]);
+    }
+}
+
 /*** Board API.  This should go away once we have a machine config file.  ***/
 
 DeviceState *qdev_create(BusState *bus, const char *name);
diff --git a/include/qom/object.h b/include/qom/object.h
index bcae3f4951..e0262962b5 100644
--- a/include/qom/object.h
+++ b/include/qom/object.h
@@ -675,6 +675,9 @@ Object *object_new_with_propv(const char *typename,
                               Error **errp,
                               va_list vargs);
 
+void object_apply_global_props(Object *obj, const GPtrArray *props,
+                               Error **errp);
+
 /**
  * object_set_props:
  * @obj: the object instance to set properties on
diff --git a/include/sysemu/accel.h b/include/sysemu/accel.h
index 637358f430..f331d128e9 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/accel.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/accel.h
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ typedef struct AccelClass {
      * global properties may be overridden by machine-type
      * compat_props or user-provided global properties.
      */
-    GlobalProperty *global_props;
+    GPtrArray *compat_props;
 } AccelClass;
 
 #define TYPE_ACCEL "accel"
@@ -67,8 +67,6 @@ typedef struct AccelClass {
 extern unsigned long tcg_tb_size;
 
 void configure_accelerator(MachineState *ms);
-/* Register accelerator specific global properties */
-void accel_register_compat_props(AccelState *accel);
 /* Called just before os_setup_post (ie just before drop OS privs) */
 void accel_setup_post(MachineState *ms);
 
diff --git a/accel/accel.c b/accel/accel.c
index 3da26eb90f..6db5d8f4df 100644
--- a/accel/accel.c
+++ b/accel/accel.c
@@ -119,18 +119,6 @@ void configure_accelerator(MachineState *ms)
     }
 }
 
-void accel_register_compat_props(AccelState *accel)
-{
-    AccelClass *class = ACCEL_GET_CLASS(accel);
-    GlobalProperty *prop = class->global_props;
-
-    for (; prop && prop->driver; prop++) {
-        /* Any compat_props must never cause error */
-        prop->errp = &error_abort;
-        qdev_prop_register_global(prop);
-    }
-}
-
 void accel_setup_post(MachineState *ms)
 {
     AccelState *accel = ms->accelerator;
diff --git a/hw/core/qdev.c b/hw/core/qdev.c
index 6b3cc55b27..53b507164f 100644
--- a/hw/core/qdev.c
+++ b/hw/core/qdev.c
@@ -972,6 +972,15 @@ static void device_initfn(Object *obj)
 
 static void device_post_init(Object *obj)
 {
+    if (object_dynamic_cast(qdev_get_machine(), TYPE_MACHINE)) {
+        MachineState *m = MACHINE(qdev_get_machine());
+        AccelClass *ac = ACCEL_GET_CLASS(m->accelerator);
+
+        if (ac->compat_props) {
+            object_apply_global_props(obj, ac->compat_props, &error_abort);
+        }
+    }
+
     qdev_prop_set_globals(DEVICE(obj));
 }
 
diff --git a/hw/xen/xen-common.c b/hw/xen/xen-common.c
index 6ec14c73ca..4532aa8632 100644
--- a/hw/xen/xen-common.c
+++ b/hw/xen/xen-common.c
@@ -174,18 +174,21 @@ static GlobalProperty xen_compat_props[] = {
         .driver = "migration",
         .property = "send-section-footer",
         .value = "off",
-    },
-    { /* end of list */ },
+    }
 };
 
 static void xen_accel_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 {
     AccelClass *ac = ACCEL_CLASS(oc);
+
     ac->name = "Xen";
     ac->init_machine = xen_init;
     ac->setup_post = xen_setup_post;
     ac->allowed = &xen_allowed;
-    ac->global_props = xen_compat_props;
+    ac->compat_props = g_ptr_array_new();
+
+    compat_props_add(ac->compat_props,
+                     xen_compat_props, G_N_ELEMENTS(xen_compat_props));
 }
 
 #define TYPE_XEN_ACCEL ACCEL_CLASS_NAME("xen")
diff --git a/qom/object.c b/qom/object.c
index 17921c0a71..dbdab0aead 100644
--- a/qom/object.c
+++ b/qom/object.c
@@ -370,6 +370,31 @@ static void object_post_init_with_type(Object *obj, TypeImpl *ti)
     }
 }
 
+void object_apply_global_props(Object *obj, const GPtrArray *props, Error **errp)
+{
+    Error *err = NULL;
+    int i;
+
+    if (!props) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    for (i = 0; i < props->len; i++) {
+        GlobalProperty *p = g_ptr_array_index(props, i);
+
+        if (object_dynamic_cast(obj, p->driver) == NULL) {
+            continue;
+        }
+        p->used = true;
+        object_property_parse(obj, p->value, p->property, &err);
+        if (err != NULL) {
+            error_prepend(&err, "can't apply global %s.%s=%s: ",
+                          p->driver, p->property, p->value);
+            error_propagate(errp, err);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 static void object_initialize_with_type(void *data, size_t size, TypeImpl *type)
 {
     Object *obj = data;
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index a5ae5f23d2..88ba658572 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -2968,7 +2968,6 @@ static void user_register_global_props(void)
  */
 static void register_global_properties(MachineState *ms)
 {
-    accel_register_compat_props(ms->accelerator);
     machine_register_compat_props(ms);
     user_register_global_props();
 }
