diff --git a/hw/i386/pc.c b/hw/i386/pc.c
index 4078d2d231..86abba61c0 100644
--- a/hw/i386/pc.c
+++ b/hw/i386/pc.c
@@ -1262,7 +1262,7 @@ void pc_basic_device_init(struct PCMachineState *pcms,
         if (pcms->bus) {
             pci_create_simple(pcms->bus, -1, "xen-platform");
         }
-        pcms->xenbus = xen_bus_init();
+        xen_bus_init();
         xen_be_init();
     }
 #endif
@@ -1290,8 +1290,7 @@ void pc_basic_device_init(struct PCMachineState *pcms,
                     pcms->vmport != ON_OFF_AUTO_ON);
 }
 
-void pc_nic_init(PCMachineClass *pcmc, ISABus *isa_bus, PCIBus *pci_bus,
-                 BusState *xen_bus)
+void pc_nic_init(PCMachineClass *pcmc, ISABus *isa_bus, PCIBus *pci_bus)
 {
     MachineClass *mc = MACHINE_CLASS(pcmc);
     bool default_is_ne2k = g_str_equal(mc->default_nic, TYPE_ISA_NE2000);
@@ -1299,14 +1298,6 @@ void pc_nic_init(PCMachineClass *pcmc, ISABus *isa_bus, PCIBus *pci_bus,
 
     rom_set_order_override(FW_CFG_ORDER_OVERRIDE_NIC);
 
-    if (xen_bus) {
-        while (nc = qemu_find_nic_info("xen-net-device", true, NULL)) {
-            DeviceState *dev = qdev_new("xen-net-device");
-            qdev_set_nic_properties(dev, nd);
-            qdev_realize_and_unref(dev, xen_bus, &error_fatal);
-        }
-    }
-
     while ((nd = qemu_find_nic_info(TYPE_ISA_NE2000, default_is_ne2k, NULL))) {
         pc_init_ne2k_isa(isa_bus, nd);
     }
diff --git a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
index eace854335..26e161beb9 100644
--- a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
+++ b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ static void pc_init1(MachineState *machine,
     pc_basic_device_init(pcms, isa_bus, x86ms->gsi, rtc_state, true,
                          0x4);
 
-    pc_nic_init(pcmc, isa_bus, pci_bus, pcms->xenbus);
+    pc_nic_init(pcmc, isa_bus, pci_bus);
 
     if (pcmc->pci_enabled) {
         pc_cmos_init(pcms, idebus[0], idebus[1], rtc_state);
diff --git a/hw/i386/pc_q35.c b/hw/i386/pc_q35.c
index 4f3e5412f6..597943ff1b 100644
--- a/hw/i386/pc_q35.c
+++ b/hw/i386/pc_q35.c
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ static void pc_q35_init(MachineState *machine)
 
     /* the rest devices to which pci devfn is automatically assigned */
     pc_vga_init(isa_bus, host_bus);
-    pc_nic_init(pcmc, isa_bus, host_bus, pcms->xenbus);
+    pc_nic_init(pcmc, isa_bus, host_bus);
 
     if (machine->nvdimms_state->is_enabled) {
         nvdimm_init_acpi_state(machine->nvdimms_state, system_io,
diff --git a/hw/xen/xen-bus.c b/hw/xen/xen-bus.c
index 4973e7d9c9..fb82cc33e4 100644
--- a/hw/xen/xen-bus.c
+++ b/hw/xen/xen-bus.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "qapi/qmp/qdict.h"
 #include "sysemu/sysemu.h"
+#include "net/net.h"
 #include "trace.h"
 
 static char *xen_device_get_backend_path(XenDevice *xendev)
@@ -1133,7 +1134,7 @@ static void xen_register_types(void)
 
 type_init(xen_register_types)
 
-BusState *xen_bus_init(void)
+void xen_bus_init(void)
 {
     DeviceState *dev = qdev_new(TYPE_XEN_BRIDGE);
     BusState *bus = qbus_new(TYPE_XEN_BUS, dev, NULL);
@@ -1141,5 +1142,6 @@ BusState *xen_bus_init(void)
     sysbus_realize_and_unref(SYS_BUS_DEVICE(dev), &error_fatal);
     qbus_set_bus_hotplug_handler(bus);
 
-    return bus;
+    qemu_create_nic_bus_devices(bus, TYPE_XEN_DEVICE, "xen-net-device",
+                                "xen", "xen-net-device");
 }
diff --git a/hw/xen/xen_devconfig.c b/hw/xen/xen_devconfig.c
index 3f77c675c6..2150869f60 100644
--- a/hw/xen/xen_devconfig.c
+++ b/hw/xen/xen_devconfig.c
@@ -46,31 +46,6 @@ static int xen_config_dev_all(char *fe, char *be)
 
 /* ------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-int xen_config_dev_nic(NICInfo *nic)
-{
-    char fe[256], be[256];
-    char mac[20];
-    int vlan_id = -1;
-
-    net_hub_id_for_client(nic->netdev, &vlan_id);
-    snprintf(mac, sizeof(mac), "%02x:%02x:%02x:%02x:%02x:%02x",
-             nic->macaddr.a[0], nic->macaddr.a[1], nic->macaddr.a[2],
-             nic->macaddr.a[3], nic->macaddr.a[4], nic->macaddr.a[5]);
-    xen_pv_printf(NULL, 1, "config nic %d: mac=\"%s\"\n", vlan_id, mac);
-    xen_config_dev_dirs("vif", "qnic", vlan_id, fe, be, sizeof(fe));
-
-    /* frontend */
-    xenstore_write_int(fe, "handle",     vlan_id);
-    xenstore_write_str(fe, "mac",        mac);
-
-    /* backend */
-    xenstore_write_int(be, "handle",     vlan_id);
-    xenstore_write_str(be, "mac",        mac);
-
-    /* common stuff */
-    return xen_config_dev_all(fe, be);
-}
-
 int xen_config_dev_vfb(int vdev, const char *type)
 {
     char fe[256], be[256];
diff --git a/hw/xenpv/xen_machine_pv.c b/hw/xenpv/xen_machine_pv.c
index 9f9f137f99..1130d1a147 100644
--- a/hw/xenpv/xen_machine_pv.c
+++ b/hw/xenpv/xen_machine_pv.c
@@ -32,8 +32,6 @@
 
 static void xen_init_pv(MachineState *machine)
 {
-    int i;
-
     setup_xen_backend_ops();
 
     /* Initialize backend core & drivers */
@@ -62,13 +60,6 @@ static void xen_init_pv(MachineState *machine)
         vga_interface_created = true;
     }
 
-    /* configure nics */
-    for (i = 0; i < nb_nics; i++) {
-        if (!nd_table[i].model || 0 != strcmp(nd_table[i].model, "xen"))
-            continue;
-        xen_config_dev_nic(nd_table + i);
-    }
-
     xen_bus_init();
 
     /* config cleanup hook */
diff --git a/include/hw/i386/pc.h b/include/hw/i386/pc.h
index a10ceeabbf..29a9724524 100644
--- a/include/hw/i386/pc.h
+++ b/include/hw/i386/pc.h
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ typedef struct PCMachineState {
 
     /* Pointers to devices and objects: */
     PCIBus *bus;
-    BusState *xenbus;
     I2CBus *smbus;
     PFlashCFI01 *flash[2];
     ISADevice *pcspk;
@@ -185,8 +184,7 @@ void pc_basic_device_init(struct PCMachineState *pcms,
 void pc_cmos_init(PCMachineState *pcms,
                   BusState *ide0, BusState *ide1,
                   ISADevice *s);
-void pc_nic_init(PCMachineClass *pcmc, ISABus *isa_bus, PCIBus *pci_bus,
-                 BusState *xen_bus);
+void pc_nic_init(PCMachineClass *pcmc, ISABus *isa_bus, PCIBus *pci_bus);
 
 void pc_i8259_create(ISABus *isa_bus, qemu_irq *i8259_irqs);
 
diff --git a/include/hw/xen/xen-bus.h b/include/hw/xen/xen-bus.h
index 334ddd1ff6..38d40afa37 100644
--- a/include/hw/xen/xen-bus.h
+++ b/include/hw/xen/xen-bus.h
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ struct XenBusClass {
 OBJECT_DECLARE_TYPE(XenBus, XenBusClass,
                     XEN_BUS)
 
-BusState *xen_bus_init(void);
+void xen_bus_init(void);
 
 void xen_device_backend_set_state(XenDevice *xendev,
                                   enum xenbus_state state);
diff --git a/include/hw/xen/xen-legacy-backend.h b/include/hw/xen/xen-legacy-backend.h
index fc42146bc2..2cca174778 100644
--- a/include/hw/xen/xen-legacy-backend.h
+++ b/include/hw/xen/xen-legacy-backend.h
@@ -81,7 +81,6 @@ extern struct XenDevOps xen_usb_ops;          /* xen-usb.c         */
 
 /* configuration (aka xenbus setup) */
 void xen_config_cleanup(void);
-int xen_config_dev_nic(NICInfo *nic);
 int xen_config_dev_vfb(int vdev, const char *type);
 int xen_config_dev_vkbd(int vdev);
 int xen_config_dev_console(int vdev);
