diff --git a/include/net/net.h b/include/net/net.h
index c53c64ac18c4..826e14a78734 100644
--- a/include/net/net.h
+++ b/include/net/net.h
@@ -214,7 +214,9 @@ extern NICInfo nd_table[MAX_NICS];
 extern const char *host_net_devices[];
 
 /* from net.c */
-int net_client_parse(QemuOptsList *opts_list, const char *str);
+bool netdev_is_modern(const char *optarg);
+void netdev_parse_modern(const char *optarg);
+void net_client_parse(QemuOptsList *opts_list, const char *str);
 void show_netdevs(void);
 void net_init_clients(void);
 void net_check_clients(void);
diff --git a/net/net.c b/net/net.c
index 15958f881776..531e6c5d2056 100644
--- a/net/net.c
+++ b/net/net.c
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@
 #include "net/colo-compare.h"
 #include "net/filter.h"
 #include "qapi/string-output-visitor.h"
+#include "qapi/qobject-input-visitor.h"
 
 /* Net bridge is currently not supported for W32. */
 #if !defined(_WIN32)
@@ -63,6 +64,16 @@
 static VMChangeStateEntry *net_change_state_entry;
 static QTAILQ_HEAD(, NetClientState) net_clients;
 
+typedef struct NetdevQueueEntry {
+    Netdev *nd;
+    Location loc;
+    QSIMPLEQ_ENTRY(NetdevQueueEntry) entry;
+} NetdevQueueEntry;
+
+typedef QSIMPLEQ_HEAD(, NetdevQueueEntry) NetdevQueue;
+
+static NetdevQueue nd_queue = QSIMPLEQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(nd_queue);
+
 /***********************************************************/
 /* network device redirectors */
 
@@ -1562,6 +1573,20 @@ out:
     return ret;
 }
 
+static void netdev_init_modern(void)
+{
+    while (!QSIMPLEQ_EMPTY(&nd_queue)) {
+        NetdevQueueEntry *nd = QSIMPLEQ_FIRST(&nd_queue);
+
+        QSIMPLEQ_REMOVE_HEAD(&nd_queue, entry);
+        loc_push_restore(&nd->loc);
+        net_client_init1(nd->nd, true, &error_fatal);
+        loc_pop(&nd->loc);
+        qapi_free_Netdev(nd->nd);
+        g_free(nd);
+    }
+}
+
 void net_init_clients(void)
 {
     net_change_state_entry =
@@ -1569,6 +1594,8 @@ void net_init_clients(void)
 
     QTAILQ_INIT(&net_clients);
 
+    netdev_init_modern();
+
     qemu_opts_foreach(qemu_find_opts("netdev"), net_init_netdev, NULL,
                       &error_fatal);
 
@@ -1579,13 +1606,38 @@ void net_init_clients(void)
                       &error_fatal);
 }
 
-int net_client_parse(QemuOptsList *opts_list, const char *optarg)
+/*
+ * netdev_is_modern() returns true when the backend needs to bypass
+ * qemu_opts_parse_noisily()
+ */
+bool netdev_is_modern(const char *optarg)
+{
+    return false;
+}
+
+/*
+ * netdev_parse_modern() uses modern, more expressive syntax than
+ * net_client_parse(), supports only the netdev option.
+ */
+void netdev_parse_modern(const char *optarg)
+{
+    Visitor *v;
+    NetdevQueueEntry *nd;
+
+    v = qobject_input_visitor_new_str(optarg, "type", &error_fatal);
+    nd = g_new(NetdevQueueEntry, 1);
+    visit_type_Netdev(v, NULL, &nd->nd, &error_fatal);
+    visit_free(v);
+    loc_save(&nd->loc);
+
+    QSIMPLEQ_INSERT_TAIL(&nd_queue, nd, entry);
+}
+
+void net_client_parse(QemuOptsList *opts_list, const char *optarg)
 {
     if (!qemu_opts_parse_noisily(opts_list, optarg, true)) {
-        return -1;
+        exit(1);
     }
-
-    return 0;
 }
 
 /* From FreeBSD */
diff --git a/softmmu/vl.c b/softmmu/vl.c
index c244e8afc4cc..f557e2d8cb8a 100644
--- a/softmmu/vl.c
+++ b/softmmu/vl.c
@@ -2794,21 +2794,19 @@ void qemu_init(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_netdev:
                 default_net = 0;
-                if (net_client_parse(qemu_find_opts("netdev"), optarg) == -1) {
-                    exit(1);
+                if (netdev_is_modern(optarg)) {
+                    netdev_parse_modern(optarg);
+                } else {
+                    net_client_parse(qemu_find_opts("netdev"), optarg);
                 }
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_nic:
                 default_net = 0;
-                if (net_client_parse(qemu_find_opts("nic"), optarg) == -1) {
-                    exit(1);
-                }
+                net_client_parse(qemu_find_opts("nic"), optarg);
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_net:
                 default_net = 0;
-                if (net_client_parse(qemu_find_opts("net"), optarg) == -1) {
-                    exit(1);
-                }
+                net_client_parse(qemu_find_opts("net"), optarg);
                 break;
 #ifdef CONFIG_LIBISCSI
             case QEMU_OPTION_iscsi:
