diff --git a/include/exec/memory.h b/include/exec/memory.h
index 47c2e0221c35..d8760015c381 100644
--- a/include/exec/memory.h
+++ b/include/exec/memory.h
@@ -1520,6 +1520,39 @@ void memory_region_init_iommu(void *_iommu_mr,
                               const char *name,
                               uint64_t size);
 
+/**
+ * memory_region_init_ram_protected - Initialize RAM memory region.  Accesses
+ *                                    into the region will modify memory
+ *                                    directly.
+ *
+ * The memory is created with the RAM_PROTECTED flag, for memory that
+ * looks and acts like RAM but inaccessible via normal mechanisms,
+ * including DMA.
+ *
+ * @mr: the #MemoryRegion to be initialized
+ * @owner: the object that tracks the region's reference count (must be
+ *         TYPE_DEVICE or a subclass of TYPE_DEVICE, or NULL)
+ * @name: name of the memory region
+ * @size: size of the region in bytes
+ * @errp: pointer to Error*, to store an error if it happens.
+ *
+ * This function allocates RAM for a board model or device, and
+ * arranges for it to be migrated (by calling vmstate_register_ram()
+ * if @owner is a DeviceState, or vmstate_register_ram_global() if
+ * @owner is NULL).
+ *
+ * TODO: Currently we restrict @owner to being either NULL (for
+ * global RAM regions with no owner) or devices, so that we can
+ * give the RAM block a unique name for migration purposes.
+ * We should lift this restriction and allow arbitrary Objects.
+ * If you pass a non-NULL non-device @owner then we will assert.
+ */
+void memory_region_init_ram_protected(MemoryRegion *mr,
+                                      Object *owner,
+                                      const char *name,
+                                      uint64_t size,
+                                      Error **errp);
+
 /**
  * memory_region_init_ram - Initialize RAM memory region.  Accesses into the
  *                          region will modify memory directly.
diff --git a/softmmu/memory.c b/softmmu/memory.c
index 7d9494ce7028..952c87277353 100644
--- a/softmmu/memory.c
+++ b/softmmu/memory.c
@@ -3551,16 +3551,18 @@ void mtree_info(bool flatview, bool dispatch_tree, bool owner, bool disabled)
     }
 }
 
-void memory_region_init_ram(MemoryRegion *mr,
-                            Object *owner,
-                            const char *name,
-                            uint64_t size,
-                            Error **errp)
+static void memory_region_init_ram_flags(MemoryRegion *mr,
+                                         Object *owner,
+                                         const char *name,
+                                         uint64_t size,
+                                         uint32_t ram_flags,
+                                         Error **errp)
 {
     DeviceState *owner_dev;
     Error *err = NULL;
 
-    memory_region_init_ram_nomigrate(mr, owner, name, size, &err);
+    memory_region_init_ram_flags_nomigrate(mr, owner, name, size, ram_flags,
+                                           &err);
     if (err) {
         error_propagate(errp, err);
         return;
@@ -3575,6 +3577,25 @@ void memory_region_init_ram(MemoryRegion *mr,
     vmstate_register_ram(mr, owner_dev);
 }
 
+void memory_region_init_ram_protected(MemoryRegion *mr,
+                                      Object *owner,
+                                      const char *name,
+                                      uint64_t size,
+                                      Error **errp)
+{
+        memory_region_init_ram_flags(mr, owner, name, size, RAM_PROTECTED,
+                                     errp);
+}
+
+void memory_region_init_ram(MemoryRegion *mr,
+                            Object *owner,
+                            const char *name,
+                            uint64_t size,
+                            Error **errp)
+{
+        memory_region_init_ram_flags(mr, owner, name, size, 0, errp);
+}
+
 void memory_region_init_rom(MemoryRegion *mr,
                             Object *owner,
                             const char *name,
diff --git a/softmmu/physmem.c b/softmmu/physmem.c
index 6bdd944fe880..bf66c81e7255 100644
--- a/softmmu/physmem.c
+++ b/softmmu/physmem.c
@@ -1978,7 +1978,7 @@ RAMBlock *qemu_ram_alloc_internal(ram_addr_t size, ram_addr_t max_size,
     Error *local_err = NULL;
 
     assert((ram_flags & ~(RAM_SHARED | RAM_RESIZEABLE | RAM_PREALLOC |
-                          RAM_NORESERVE)) == 0);
+                          RAM_NORESERVE | RAM_PROTECTED)) == 0);
     assert(!host ^ (ram_flags & RAM_PREALLOC));
 
     size = HOST_PAGE_ALIGN(size);
@@ -2012,7 +2012,7 @@ RAMBlock *qemu_ram_alloc_from_ptr(ram_addr_t size, void *host,
 RAMBlock *qemu_ram_alloc(ram_addr_t size, uint32_t ram_flags,
                          MemoryRegion *mr, Error **errp)
 {
-    assert((ram_flags & ~(RAM_SHARED | RAM_NORESERVE)) == 0);
+    assert((ram_flags & ~(RAM_SHARED | RAM_NORESERVE | RAM_PROTECTED)) == 0);
     return qemu_ram_alloc_internal(size, size, NULL, NULL, ram_flags, mr, errp);
 }
 
