diff --git a/qapi/qom.json b/qapi/qom.json
index eeb5395ff3..582def0522 100644
--- a/qapi/qom.json
+++ b/qapi/qom.json
@@ -703,6 +703,20 @@
 { 'struct': 'RemoteObjectProperties',
   'data': { 'fd': 'str', 'devid': 'str' } }
 
+##
+# @VfioUserServerProperties:
+#
+# Properties for x-vfio-user-server objects.
+#
+# @socket: socket to be used by the libvfio-user library
+#
+# @device: the id of the device to be emulated at the server
+#
+# Since: 7.1
+##
+{ 'struct': 'VfioUserServerProperties',
+  'data': { 'socket': 'SocketAddress', 'device': 'str' } }
+
 ##
 # @RngProperties:
 #
@@ -842,7 +856,8 @@
     'tls-creds-psk',
     'tls-creds-x509',
     'tls-cipher-suites',
-    { 'name': 'x-remote-object', 'features': [ 'unstable' ] }
+    { 'name': 'x-remote-object', 'features': [ 'unstable' ] },
+    { 'name': 'x-vfio-user-server', 'features': [ 'unstable' ] }
   ] }
 
 ##
@@ -905,7 +920,8 @@
       'tls-creds-psk':              'TlsCredsPskProperties',
       'tls-creds-x509':             'TlsCredsX509Properties',
       'tls-cipher-suites':          'TlsCredsProperties',
-      'x-remote-object':            'RemoteObjectProperties'
+      'x-remote-object':            'RemoteObjectProperties',
+      'x-vfio-user-server':         'VfioUserServerProperties'
   } }
 
 ##
diff --git a/include/hw/remote/machine.h b/include/hw/remote/machine.h
index 8d0fa98d33..ac32fda387 100644
--- a/include/hw/remote/machine.h
+++ b/include/hw/remote/machine.h
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ struct RemoteMachineState {
     RemoteIOHubState iohub;
 
     bool vfio_user;
+
+    bool auto_shutdown;
 };
 
 /* Used to pass to co-routine device and ioc. */
diff --git a/hw/remote/machine.c b/hw/remote/machine.c
index 9f3cdc55c3..4d008ed721 100644
--- a/hw/remote/machine.c
+++ b/hw/remote/machine.c
@@ -77,6 +77,28 @@ static void remote_machine_set_vfio_user(Object *obj, bool value, Error **errp)
     s->vfio_user = value;
 }
 
+static bool remote_machine_get_auto_shutdown(Object *obj, Error **errp)
+{
+    RemoteMachineState *s = REMOTE_MACHINE(obj);
+
+    return s->auto_shutdown;
+}
+
+static void remote_machine_set_auto_shutdown(Object *obj, bool value,
+                                             Error **errp)
+{
+    RemoteMachineState *s = REMOTE_MACHINE(obj);
+
+    s->auto_shutdown = value;
+}
+
+static void remote_machine_instance_init(Object *obj)
+{
+    RemoteMachineState *s = REMOTE_MACHINE(obj);
+
+    s->auto_shutdown = true;
+}
+
 static void remote_machine_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 {
     MachineClass *mc = MACHINE_CLASS(oc);
@@ -90,12 +112,17 @@ static void remote_machine_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
     object_class_property_add_bool(oc, "vfio-user",
                                    remote_machine_get_vfio_user,
                                    remote_machine_set_vfio_user);
+
+    object_class_property_add_bool(oc, "auto-shutdown",
+                                   remote_machine_get_auto_shutdown,
+                                   remote_machine_set_auto_shutdown);
 }
 
 static const TypeInfo remote_machine = {
     .name = TYPE_REMOTE_MACHINE,
     .parent = TYPE_MACHINE,
     .instance_size = sizeof(RemoteMachineState),
+    .instance_init = remote_machine_instance_init,
     .class_init = remote_machine_class_init,
     .interfaces = (InterfaceInfo[]) {
         { TYPE_HOTPLUG_HANDLER },
diff --git a/hw/remote/vfio-user-obj.c b/hw/remote/vfio-user-obj.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bc49adcc27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hw/remote/vfio-user-obj.c
@@ -0,0 +1,210 @@
+/**
+ * QEMU vfio-user-server server object
+ *
+ * Copyright © 2022 Oracle and/or its affiliates.
+ *
+ * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL-v2, version 2 or later.
+ *
+ * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+ *
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Usage: add options:
+ *     -machine x-remote,vfio-user=on,auto-shutdown=on
+ *     -device <PCI-device>,id=<pci-dev-id>
+ *     -object x-vfio-user-server,id=<id>,type=unix,path=<socket-path>,
+ *             device=<pci-dev-id>
+ *
+ * Note that x-vfio-user-server object must be used with x-remote machine only.
+ * This server could only support PCI devices for now.
+ *
+ * type - SocketAddress type - presently "unix" alone is supported. Required
+ *        option
+ *
+ * path - named unix socket, it will be created by the server. It is
+ *        a required option
+ *
+ * device - id of a device on the server, a required option. PCI devices
+ *          alone are supported presently.
+ */
+
+#include "qemu/osdep.h"
+
+#include "qom/object.h"
+#include "qom/object_interfaces.h"
+#include "qemu/error-report.h"
+#include "trace.h"
+#include "sysemu/runstate.h"
+#include "hw/boards.h"
+#include "hw/remote/machine.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
+#include "qapi/qapi-visit-sockets.h"
+
+#define TYPE_VFU_OBJECT "x-vfio-user-server"
+OBJECT_DECLARE_TYPE(VfuObject, VfuObjectClass, VFU_OBJECT)
+
+/**
+ * VFU_OBJECT_ERROR - reports an error message. If auto_shutdown
+ * is set, it aborts the machine on error. Otherwise, it logs an
+ * error message without aborting.
+ */
+#define VFU_OBJECT_ERROR(o, fmt, ...)                                     \
+    {                                                                     \
+        if (vfu_object_auto_shutdown()) {                                 \
+            error_setg(&error_abort, (fmt), ## __VA_ARGS__);              \
+        } else {                                                          \
+            error_report((fmt), ## __VA_ARGS__);                          \
+        }                                                                 \
+    }                                                                     \
+
+struct VfuObjectClass {
+    ObjectClass parent_class;
+
+    unsigned int nr_devs;
+};
+
+struct VfuObject {
+    /* private */
+    Object parent;
+
+    SocketAddress *socket;
+
+    char *device;
+
+    Error *err;
+};
+
+static bool vfu_object_auto_shutdown(void)
+{
+    bool auto_shutdown = true;
+    Error *local_err = NULL;
+
+    if (!current_machine) {
+        return auto_shutdown;
+    }
+
+    auto_shutdown = object_property_get_bool(OBJECT(current_machine),
+                                             "auto-shutdown",
+                                             &local_err);
+
+    /*
+     * local_err would be set if no such property exists - safe to ignore.
+     * Unlikely scenario as auto-shutdown is always defined for
+     * TYPE_REMOTE_MACHINE, and  TYPE_VFU_OBJECT only works with
+     * TYPE_REMOTE_MACHINE
+     */
+    if (local_err) {
+        auto_shutdown = true;
+        error_free(local_err);
+    }
+
+    return auto_shutdown;
+}
+
+static void vfu_object_set_socket(Object *obj, Visitor *v, const char *name,
+                                  void *opaque, Error **errp)
+{
+    VfuObject *o = VFU_OBJECT(obj);
+
+    qapi_free_SocketAddress(o->socket);
+
+    o->socket = NULL;
+
+    visit_type_SocketAddress(v, name, &o->socket, errp);
+
+    if (o->socket->type != SOCKET_ADDRESS_TYPE_UNIX) {
+        error_setg(errp, "vfu: Unsupported socket type - %s",
+                   SocketAddressType_str(o->socket->type));
+        qapi_free_SocketAddress(o->socket);
+        o->socket = NULL;
+        return;
+    }
+
+    trace_vfu_prop("socket", o->socket->u.q_unix.path);
+}
+
+static void vfu_object_set_device(Object *obj, const char *str, Error **errp)
+{
+    VfuObject *o = VFU_OBJECT(obj);
+
+    g_free(o->device);
+
+    o->device = g_strdup(str);
+
+    trace_vfu_prop("device", str);
+}
+
+static void vfu_object_init(Object *obj)
+{
+    VfuObjectClass *k = VFU_OBJECT_GET_CLASS(obj);
+    VfuObject *o = VFU_OBJECT(obj);
+
+    k->nr_devs++;
+
+    if (!object_dynamic_cast(OBJECT(current_machine), TYPE_REMOTE_MACHINE)) {
+        error_setg(&o->err, "vfu: %s only compatible with %s machine",
+                   TYPE_VFU_OBJECT, TYPE_REMOTE_MACHINE);
+        return;
+    }
+}
+
+static void vfu_object_finalize(Object *obj)
+{
+    VfuObjectClass *k = VFU_OBJECT_GET_CLASS(obj);
+    VfuObject *o = VFU_OBJECT(obj);
+
+    k->nr_devs--;
+
+    qapi_free_SocketAddress(o->socket);
+
+    o->socket = NULL;
+
+    g_free(o->device);
+
+    o->device = NULL;
+
+    if (!k->nr_devs && vfu_object_auto_shutdown()) {
+        qemu_system_shutdown_request(SHUTDOWN_CAUSE_GUEST_SHUTDOWN);
+    }
+}
+
+static void vfu_object_class_init(ObjectClass *klass, void *data)
+{
+    VfuObjectClass *k = VFU_OBJECT_CLASS(klass);
+
+    k->nr_devs = 0;
+
+    object_class_property_add(klass, "socket", "SocketAddress", NULL,
+                              vfu_object_set_socket, NULL, NULL);
+    object_class_property_set_description(klass, "socket",
+                                          "SocketAddress "
+                                          "(ex: type=unix,path=/tmp/sock). "
+                                          "Only UNIX is presently supported");
+    object_class_property_add_str(klass, "device", NULL,
+                                  vfu_object_set_device);
+    object_class_property_set_description(klass, "device",
+                                          "device ID - only PCI devices "
+                                          "are presently supported");
+}
+
+static const TypeInfo vfu_object_info = {
+    .name = TYPE_VFU_OBJECT,
+    .parent = TYPE_OBJECT,
+    .instance_size = sizeof(VfuObject),
+    .instance_init = vfu_object_init,
+    .instance_finalize = vfu_object_finalize,
+    .class_size = sizeof(VfuObjectClass),
+    .class_init = vfu_object_class_init,
+    .interfaces = (InterfaceInfo[]) {
+        { TYPE_USER_CREATABLE },
+        { }
+    }
+};
+
+static void vfu_register_types(void)
+{
+    type_register_static(&vfu_object_info);
+}
+
+type_init(vfu_register_types);
diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 84b0e019e8..1b5719cd89 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -3599,6 +3599,7 @@ F: include/hw/remote/proxy-memory-listener.h
 F: hw/remote/iohub.c
 F: include/hw/remote/iohub.h
 F: subprojects/libvfio-user
+F: hw/remote/vfio-user-obj.c
 
 EBPF:
 M: Jason Wang <jasowang@redhat.com>
diff --git a/hw/remote/meson.build b/hw/remote/meson.build
index dfea6b533b..534ac5df79 100644
--- a/hw/remote/meson.build
+++ b/hw/remote/meson.build
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ remote_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_MULTIPROCESS', if_true: files('message.c'))
 remote_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_MULTIPROCESS', if_true: files('remote-obj.c'))
 remote_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_MULTIPROCESS', if_true: files('proxy.c'))
 remote_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_MULTIPROCESS', if_true: files('iohub.c'))
+remote_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_VFIO_USER_SERVER', if_true: files('vfio-user-obj.c'))
 
 remote_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_VFIO_USER_SERVER', if_true: vfiouser)
 
diff --git a/hw/remote/trace-events b/hw/remote/trace-events
index 0b23974f90..7da12f0d96 100644
--- a/hw/remote/trace-events
+++ b/hw/remote/trace-events
@@ -2,3 +2,6 @@
 
 mpqemu_send_io_error(int cmd, int size, int nfds) "send command %d size %d, %d file descriptors to remote process"
 mpqemu_recv_io_error(int cmd, int size, int nfds) "failed to receive %d size %d, %d file descriptors to remote process"
+
+# vfio-user-obj.c
+vfu_prop(const char *prop, const char *val) "vfu: setting %s as %s"
